Humanity's Rebirth
by TallYapflip
Summary: The First Contact War brought untold destruction to Earth, reducing Humanity to a shell of its former self. For 900 years, Humanity has been working tirelessly to lay claim to its own slice of the Milky Way Galaxy, and they are prepared to bring the Council to its knees to accomplish their goals. (Massive AU, New Technologies, and a far different humanity.)
1. Chapter 1

**Humanity's Rebirth**

A Mass Effect AU Fic by TallYapflip

 _From Sand to Dust, and Dust to Earth, I am drifting In a World I Don't Belong. I Remember Dying, Shifting Into Black. I Remember Dreaming of a Second Chance._

 **Chapter 1: Rebirth**

Haddock Stratton stood before his wall-spanning window that gave his office a wonderful view of the Imperial Legislature Square, resting on the former city of Washington D.C.'s Capitol Hill. He watched with a swelling sense of pride as the planet's daily life passed by. Civilians walked through the streets, Police officers strolled along the sidewalk, and cars hurried to and from their place of work. The thought that such a planet was on the receiving end of an invasion 900 years ago seemed almost foreign as he saw the content populace go about the relatively unimportant business of their day-to-day activities. He found himself losing his sense of reality to the memories of the past, when _they_ came.

The blue-skinned aliens, the Birds, and the Lizards, all bearing their lies of peace and co-prosperity. The United Nations Coalition listened to their hollow promises for a time, but when it was revealed that they wished for Humanity to join them as a vassal race, they refused. Talks broke down, tensions grew as their diplomats came to be hated by the race that they had lied to, and it all culminated in a single devastating war.

Even with early 21st century military technology, the Humans held their own for a time, despite being cornered to a single world, while the aliens could pull forces from across the galaxy. The nations of Earth, for a glorious three years, stood united against a threat to Humanity's very right to rule itself: the Citadel Council.

The UN Coalition fought tooth and nail for every inch of Earth's soil, with the Humans showing their tenacity as the war dragged on. The frail Salarians were easy pickings for the average soldier, but the Asari and Turians proved a greater threat. The Asari were among the worst. Their uncanny resemblance to Human females was unnerving to say the least, as was their capacity for diplomacy. Their natural abilities to bend space to their will proved an asset against the human resistance, but even they fell short of the horrors that the Turians had inflicted.

The relatively small, by Turian standards, fleet that rested over Earth during the war proved to be the ultimate undoing of the Human species' ability to wage war. Every nation's surface navy was destroyed in a matter of weeks, hit by precision orbital strikes. The few weapons that were capable of fighting the orbiting fleet were expended within a few hours, with minimal losses sustained by the Turians. As the fighting on the surface grew worse and worse, so did the tactics of the Turians. Seeing Turians wielding flamethrowers was not an uncommon sight, nor was seeing a Turian orbital strike blanketing an entire city in hellfire. The official death toll was still in debate, but it's assumed that the war claimed at least four billion human lives, half of the population.

As if their total destruction of the Homeworld wasn't enough, the aliens simply continued their campaign, blanketing the planet in mass accelerator slugs and low-yield nuclear weapons. Once they felt their destruction was complete, they simply left a shattered and broken Earth and Humanity behind. The one thing they couldn't break was the Human spirit… and desire for vengeance.

Once the Aliens left, taking their pyrrhic victory with them, Humanity remained united. It still stood as a surprise to him when Stratton would look back through history and see the lengths that the survivors went to in order to ensure the survival of Humanity. Any remaining military assets reconnected with one another, working to restore a sense of order. For the first time in Human history, all of the species was united in a single, common goal: Survival in this harsh, unforgiving universe. The arrival of the council was a rude awakening for the complacent Human civilization.

Within 20 years, order was restored to most of the planet, with a preliminary government set up under military leadership. The wealth of technology left behind by the destroyed Council vehicles proved essential for achieving Humanity's next goal, reaching the stars. In 2046, twenty one years after the end of the war, the first human spacecraft was put in service with the United Earth Navy. It was given a singular mission, prove that Humanity could earn their place in the stars.

The Aliens' method of transportation was discovered orbiting Pluto, a massive construct in the void designed to propel ships at high-speeds. It was named a Mass Relay, according to a decoded copy of an Asari Codex. The budding Human Navy searched the entire Sol System, surprised to not find a single trace of the Council anywhere. They took it as a blessing and began their work.

Over the decades, Humanity began recovering. Cities were rebuilt, infrastructure repaired, and colonies established on Luna and Mars. The Provisional United Earth Government slowly evolved along with the technology, eventually becoming the United Human Empire in 2096. A leader for this government was needed, so the Chancellorship was created. The Chancellor, similar to an Emperor, would be Humanity's leader through the turbulent cosmic ocean, working tirelessly to secure its place among the stars. It was an honor, and that honor was now Haddock Stratton's.

In the 900 years since the founding of the United Human Empire, Humanity had finally earned their place. The Empire spanned thirty worlds, a number made possible by the development of the Void Drive Trans-Light Engine in 2151. Much like the technology from science fiction, the Void Drive alters the effect of gravity on light, exponentially increasing the relative speed of light. Of the technologies that the Council possessed, Element Zero Engines and Drive Cores were an impossibility for the Human Species. Given that there was no notable deposit of the new element within the Sol System, Humanity needed a method of FTL travel, and necessity is the mother of invention.

These thirty worlds, bearing a collective population of thirty six billion humans, given the situation, needed a military to defend them. And thus, the Imperial Navy was christened in its current state in 2164. As of 2996, the Imperial Navy included upwards of 2,500 warships, with 1,000 of them being Heavy Cruisers or larger. One of the many benefits of not being restricted to Element Zero engineering was the lack of a feasible size restriction on naval vessels. Council ships could sparsely be longer than a single kilometer. Light Cruisers in the Imperial Navy were always at least 1 kilometer, with the largest of Super Dreadnoughts stretching an impressive 17.7 kilometers in length.

Thankfully, with the advent of the Void Drive, the Human Colonies were completely inaccessible to the Council, as they existed well out of range of any Mass Relay. The only real security concern was the Sol System, as the Council could feasibly transport warships into the system in a matter of minutes, which led to the massive fleet of 120 vessels constantly guarding the deactivated Sol Relay. According to the Shadow Protocol, upon activation of the Sol Relay, all UHE vessels are to immediately return to the Sol System and prepare a defense of the system. Somehow, some way, the relay lay dormant for almost a millennia.

Stratton was shaken out of his thoughts as the sound of boots clacking against the tiled floor of his office reverberated in his ears. He turned around, unsurprised to find the current Lord of Admirals, Steven Hackett, had stepped into his office. "Chancellor Stratton, you asked for me?"

"I did, Steven." Stratton said, sighing. "Do you have any idea why?" Stratton motioned for Hackett to take a seat in one of the three padded chairs that faced his desk.

"Frankly sir, I do not." Hackett responded, taking a seat.

"It's a rather troubling issue that I'm facing right now…" Stratton said, sitting down in his own chair and grabbing a small bottle of scotch from beneath his desk. He produced two glasses from a small drawer in his desk, filling them both with the golden liquid and sliding one over to Hackett. "The Senate thinks we're ready."

"Are they insane?" Hackett asks, his eyes widening. "If we broke the Shadow Protocol now, there's no telling what could happen! We have no means of gathering intelligence outside of our own space, not without making our presence known!"

"That's just the issue… a lack of knowledge." Stratton agreed, kicking his feet up on the desk. "The Navy has no means of leaving our space undetected, and that's a problem. Our current FTL drive simply releases far too much energy upon activation or dropping from FTL."

"We simply don't have any stealth warships." Hackett agreed, taking a drink from his glass. "All of our ships are suited for frontline combat. And our Stealth ships are woefully outdated when compared to our combat vessels… we simply never needed stealth ships for our colonization efforts. Not even mentioning the fact that we use a _completely_ different technological basis for our ships."

"Exactly why your new mission is so important." Stratton said, slamming back the remainder of his liquor. "As of right now, I'm giving NAVSPECWAR a blank check to design a warship that can effectively move through Council Space undetected. And I need it done by the turn of the millennia."

"That's a tall order, even with a 'blank check'." Hackett said, giving the Chancellor a rather incredulous look. "You're talking about designing, building, testing, and fixing a completely new class of vessel within the span of three years."

"Exactly why I'm giving your division the order." Stratton replied, smiling slightly. "If any singular entity within the UHE can accomplish something like this, it would be yours."

"I appreciate the flattery, but I'm still not sure that it's even possible." Hackett responded, sighing. "But that won't stop us from trying our damndest. Consider this project underway."

"Excellent." Stratton says, smiling. "I feel like this goes without saying, but you're going to need a crew, and a damned good one."

"I've got the entirety of the Navy's Special Warfare Operatives Division under my command, I'll get the best we have." Hackett responded.

"I'll leave the decision for the crew up to you." Stratton said. "You know your men far better than I do."

"I already have an idea for the commanding officer." Hackett added, thinking to himself.

"One of your N7 Operatives?" Stratton asked.

"Indeed… She shows quite a bit of promise. She's only 22 and she's already outperforming her own instructors." Hackett said, nodding.

"Your N7 Commandos never cease to impress me, Hackett." Stratton said, grinning. "She seems like a perfect fit. Who is she, so I can pull up a dossier on her?"

"Lieutenant-Commander Annalise Shepard."

XXXXX

Annalise sat up in her normal perch, staring down the scope of her rifle. She watched as the small squad of UHE Marines scanned the forests around her, searching for the hiding operative. Her optical camouflage module rendered her almost completely invisible, and her still state made hearing her a complete impossibility. She quietly powered up the electromagnetic coils of her rifle, the soft thrumming brining a familiar comfort.

She watched in rather detached interest, waiting for the proper moment to issue the order. Her Heads-Up Display showed the large rectangle of land that the entire squad of Marines would have to be in before she could give the order. Her aiming reticle followed the NCO of the squad, waiting for that moment to come.

The very instant the final rifleman stepped into the ambush zone, Annalise lit up the HUDs of her team with the signal. Within an instant, four silent slugs flew from the treeline, one of which was Annalise's. Hers connected with the helmet of the NCO, while the other three knocked out the three corporals within the squad, leaving only ten stunned Marines. The remaining ten marines all fell to one knee, forming a square to provide maximum visual coverage of the surrounding forest. They began firing into the forest in a surprisingly controlled manner. Annalise was honestly rather surprise, Hackett must have sent some decent soldiers this time.

Annalise remained steadfast in her observation of the startled Marines, watching them blindly fire into the forest beneath her. She waiting until their rifle's magazine clicked empty, then watched in amusement as their helmets were struck by a quick sub-sonic coilgun round, locking up their armor and knocking them out of the fight.

The Marines, upon seeing two of their comrades fall, attempted to scatter for nearby cover, only to be met by a hail of automatic gunfire from the four concealed Operatives, knocking all of them out. Annalise didn't feel like toying with the Marines any more than was required today. Once the final Marine's armor was locked by the soft-bodied coilgun round, all of the Operative's weapons were powered down remotely, and the all-clear was given to their HUDs.

"Whoo!" Ashley cheered from the tree opposite of Annalise. Ashley Williams was the Designated Rifleman and Combat Lifesaver of Annalise's squad. She and Ashley had been friends ever since they were both barely old enough to walk, and were both lucky enough to be placed in the same squad for their training as N7 Operatives. Ashley dropped from her perch in the treeline, slinging her rifle over her back.

Ashley's armor was the same as all N7 armor. It was a matte black, completely covering all parts of the wearer's body. It had an internalized exoskeleton used to assist in load-bearing, sets of advanced alloy plates covering almost all of the wearer's body, as well as a set of synthetic muscle fibers that greatly enhanced the strength of the wearer. Every suit of the N7 Armor was specialized to the role of the solider, and as such, Ashley's was suited for a medic. It had a wide array of medical sensors, bio-gel canisters, and various medical implements built directly into the armor. "You guys lasted ten minutes this time!" Ashley mockingly congratulated the now-recovering Marines. "Thirty second improvement."

"Fuck off, Williams…" The Marines Squad Leader said, standing upright slowly.

"I dunno, Williams…" Kaidan Alenko responded, dropping from his own perch. "Maybe we're just getting soft. This is the first Combat Sim we've had in the past few months, after all." Alenko was the team's resident Vanguard, or heavily-armored front line combatant. N7 Vanguards were equipped with much more heavily-armored sets of armor, and were generally seen carrying Coil-assisted Scatterguns of some kind. Alenko preferred his small PDWs that he kept attached to his thighs, which he affectionately referred to as "his babies". Annalise had come to know Alenko as the rather soft-spoken, yet highly effective combatant. He was certainly thoughtful and respectful most of the time, but it wasn't above him to crack the occasional joke at another's expense. Despite his soft-spoken nature, he got along rather well with the rest of his team.

"We certainly could have done better." Miranda Lawson, the squad's resident CQC and Sustained Stealth Operations Specialist, commented. Miranda's armor was lighter than most variants of the N7 Combat Armor. It was designed for mobility, as opposed to durability. The blockier armored plates had been replaced with curvier, rounded plates, and the helmet was outfitted with all manner of sensors to detect, mark, and track all nearby entities. The brighter blue light behind her thin visor was indicative of her armor's greatly expanded-upon HUD, featuring motion trackers, IFF Scanners, Thermal Scanners, and the works.

Relations between Annalise and Miranda had started off a bit rocky back in the day. At first, Annalise attributed the unlikable nature of the Australian-born woman to a combination of her snobby-sounding accent and her resting bitch-face. Annalise's rather upbeat and spontaneous personality clashed rather strongly with Miranda's more detail-oriented one, leading to quite a few arguments over rather mundane issues. As the time went by, they slowly came to settle their many differences enough to consider themselves friends.

"I thought that was perfect." Annalise responded with a shrug, slinging her Coilgun across her back. Annalise was the Designated Squad Leader of N7 Squad Apex-1, and her armor reflected her role. Unlike most other variants of N7 Combat Armor, her armor was outfitted with a primary Quantum Entanglement Communicator, as opposed to the standard Tightbeam System that the rest of the variants used. It was capable of communicating with any UHE Military Installation from any point in space, as well as keeping in constant contact with any and all UHE Military Assets. Her armor's overall design was no different than Ashley's, with the exception of it lacking the medical equipment.

"Why do I always get pitted against Shepard's team?" One of the Marines asked to no one in particular. "What did I ever do to deserve this torture?"

"Aww, c'mon…" Annalise said, smirking underneath her helmet. "You know you love it." She helped the Marine up to his feet, a gesture that he begrudgingly accepted. Once the Marine was back on his feet, the holographic environment being projected around them dissipated, leaving a drab gray room in its place. "Maybe Hackett'll actually let you guys rest for once, now that my team's shipping off to Specialization."

The NCO let out a sarcastic, barking laugh. "Nah, we're probably gonna wind up as the next Generation's punching bags. At least it pays well."

As the groups left the simulator, they were greeted by a truly unexpected sight. Before them stood Admiral Steven Hackett in his formal blue uniform, his facial scar barely hidden by the shadow cast on his face by the cap her wore on his head. Standing on either side of the Admiral were members of the UHE's Internal Intelligence Corps, their black uniforms standing in stark contrast to the pale walls of the hallway. All of the soldiers before him snapped to attention immediately, their arms bending in a salute. "Admiral on deck!" Annalise declared.

"At ease, lieutenant." Hackett said, waving off the formal stance with the flick of his wrist. "Marines, you're dismissed."

"Aye sir!" The NCO said, standing at rest. He walked off with the rest of his team trailing behind, leaving the four young soldiers standing before the aged Admiral Hackett.

"Lieutenant Shepard. It's time we broke the Protocol." Hackett said, grinning slightly. "Come with me, it's time to discuss _your_ Specialization Training in specific."

XXXXX

Councilor Tevos barely resisted the urge to massage her temple, having been sitting around a conference table with the two other councilors for the past seven hours. Ever since this pointless conference started, it had been talk of nothing more than equally pointless topics. Expansion of Eezo Mining to the outer areas of the Traverse, the creation of a second Volus Dreadnought, and the icing on the proverbial cake was the topic of discussion for the past three hours, Quarian Migrant Fleet movements through _unoccupied_ space. She had nearly dozed off at least six times since Mesu and Valern started this pointless discussion, and had elected to ignore most of it. A single sentence drew her back into the conversation.

"What about the inactive Relay in the Exodus Cluster?" Valern asked, looking to his colleagues. "It is well-within Traverse Space, and it has somehow been caught up in a bureaucratic loop to prevent its activation. I propose that we activate it, and explore into the rest of the Galaxy."

"How long has the proper paperwork been in the works?" Mesu asked, his Salarian nature making his speech almost too fast to follow.

"Upwards of ten years." Valern replied, sighing. "The Hierarchy petitioned to activate the Relay after the Traverse was cleared for colonization, but it was stopped at some point along the way by the bureaucracy of the Citadel. I would like to expedite the activation of the relay."

"That arm of the Galaxy _is_ still unexplored." Mesu agreed, rubbing his chin in thought. "Imagine what we could find."

Tevos nodded. "Understandable… I believe you're all right, it's time to activate the Relay. We will be exercising standard procedures, however. A fleet will be in the system to prevent any mishaps."

"Excellent, I'll bring this to the Hierarchy immediately. We can have this Relay activated by year's end." Valern said, standing up.

The remainder of the day passed rather uneventfully. Another petition for a Council Seat by the Volus, more Hanar preachers in the Presidium, and more incidents along the Traverse with Batarians. At the end of the day, Tevos simply stepped into her personal quarters and sat down in her comfortable chair, and powered on her terminal. Something had been nagging at her all day… just _why_ was this Relay barely present in the Citadel's historical archives. The only information regarding it was that it was discovered just over 900 years ago, and has yet to be activated. Tevos knew all too well that the bureaucracy of the Citadel was slow, but she had never heard of something like a Relay on the border of heavily-defended Council Space taking almost a millennium to activate.

She spent the better part of three hours scanning over the same documents from the Archives, none of them more than a single page in length. After her eyes started to grow weary of staring at a holo-screen for an extended period of time, she simply gave up and closed the terminal. Even after reading over the same documents for the past four hours, she still had a nagging feeling about this Relay. There was simply too much that didn't add up.

 **Codex Updated:**

 **UHE: The United Human Empire, the government born in one war and forged by the threat of another**. **An empire that spans across 30 garden worlds and 31 Star Systems, completely independent of the Citadel Council. For the past 900 years, it has been building up its forces, biding its time until it could make itself known. It began as a collective government between the North American Federation, European Conglomerate, and the Slavic Union, all of which are responsible for forging the culture of the UHE.**

 **Imperial Navy: The Might of the UHE, the largest fleet in the known galaxy belongs to the UHE, numbering in at exactly 2,521 combat vessels of Corvette-Weight and larger. It is responsible for securing all corners of Human Space, and is easily the largest branch of the UHE's massive military machine.**

 **Imperial Army: The backbone of the UHE, the Army is the primary fighting force of the Human Military. Its total active-duty personnel numbers in at 100 million personnel, including members of logistics along with combat soldiers. There are about 30 million active combat personnel in the UHE Army, making it a force to be reckoned with unlike any other.**

 **Imperial Marines: If the Army is the backbone of the UHE, then the Marines are the heart. They are some of the most elite soldiers of the UHE, and they are also the smallest branch of the military. Altogether, there are only 4 million active Marines, with 1.5 million combat-ready soldiers.**

 **NAVSPECWAR: Naval Special Warfare Command, the relatively small division of the UHE Navy responsible for overseeing all experimental projects, as well as all sections of the Navy's Special Forces. It is under the direction of Lord of Admirals Steven Hackett.**

 **Shadow Protocol: The enduring protocol for all Human movements through space. No Human vessel or person is to make the continued presence of the Human Species known without express permission from the Chancellor himself. It also includes the Human Military Doctrine of remaining isolated to the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, staying quiet and building up in secret. Any attempt to break the Shadow Protocol willingly is generally considered treason, and punished by execution.**

 **Void Drive: The main human means of FTL travel. It functions by utilizing the advanced reactor core of all human ships, a Neutronium Reactor, and creating a micosingularity within a contained space in the ship's vicinity. This microsingularity acts upon light, using the immense gravitational pull to alter the relative speed of light. This altered Space-Time spectrum is contained by a bubble of Real-Space that surrounds the vessel upon activation of this Drive. It is commonly accepted that the Void Drive is capable of relatively limitless changes to the speed of light, and thus having no measurable limit on the speed of which the vessel utilizing the drive can move.**

 **Neutronium Reactor Core: The energy basis for all Human Warships and society. Humanity's massive power needs required a rather strange alternative to nuclear fusion or fission, and that was Sustained Neutronium Pressure Reactions. Neutronium, a collection of matter comprised entirely of neutrons, existing in an incredibly dense state. A ball of Neutronium is contained in a highly pressurized sphere of alloyed metals, with the pressure used to extract single molecules of Neutronium at any given time. Once a molecule is separated from the larger cluster of Neutronium, it begins to break down over the course of roughly twenty minutes, releasing upwards of twenty eight megawatts within the first second of the reaction taking place. It is by far the most advanced energy solution ever derived by the human mind. The first planetary Neutronium Reactor was created on Earth in the year 2364, and remains in service to this day. It alone can provide power for the entirety of the North American Continent.**

 **Haddock Stratton: Current Chancellor of the United Human Empire, appointed by the Senate to serve a life term, as have all Chancellors before him. He is a native to Earth's North American continent, and is 36 years old as of 2996. He is a decorated member of the UHE Naval Air Forces, awarded the Imperial Ace's Cross by his predecessor, Chancellor Edwin Volker.**

 **UHE Senate: The Primary legislative body of the UHE, with each planet receiving a pair of Senators for representation. Earth is the one exception, as it receives three. The Senate holds a fair bit of legislative power over the laws, but still requires the signature of the Chancellor in order to enact any sort of legislature. All Senators serve a single ten year term, then are replaced in a general election.**

 **N7: The Elite Special Operations force of the UHE Navy, answering directly to NAVSPECWAR and Admiral Hackett. Each N7 Operative is hand-picked at sixteen years of age and undergoes the most rigorous training of any UHE Military role. Their six-year basic training is spent in the Imperial War Academy on New Eden, Humanity's first and most well-defended colony. They are trained in squads of four, with each squad given a single NCO that serves as their own for the entirety of their training. Their basic training goes far beyond physical rigor, but includes mental rigor as well. Each N7 prospect also takes classes in physics, tactics, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, and history. Top marks are required in all classes in order to remain in the program. Once their six years of basic training is completed, the squad will attend an additional two years of Advanced Training School on Earth, where their squad and personal specializations will be given. Once Advanced Training is complete, the squad is officially active.**

 **N7 Operators are generally given some of the most advanced equipment in the UHE's expansive arsenal, along with limited biological, genetic, and cybernetic enhancements. The UHE Government officially values a single N7 Operative as being worth 45 UHE Marine Companies. There are only fifteen active N7 Squads, totaling at 60 Operatives.**

 **N7 Armor: The Tactical Exoskeletal Battle Dress Uniform, or TEBDU, is the standard combat attire for all N7 operatives. It features an exoskeletal frame concealed under the armor itself, as well as synthetic muscle fibers, automatic bio-gel dispensers, all manner of optics, and basic communications equipment as standard. It is the most advanced suit of armor ever created by the Human species, and is reserved entirely for the elite N7 Operatives. Each set of armor runs the UHE upwards of six million credits in costs, and his highly customizable. Many N7 Operatives choose to add onto their personal set of armor as their career moves forward, giving them their own unique appearance.**

 **Coilguns: The standard small arm of the UHE Armed Forces. The Coilgun functions in a similar manner to the average railgun, but uses a slightly more-accurate coil layout for its magnetic inductors. UHE Coilguns come in all shapes and sizes, from small pocket handguns to massive assault cannons carried by exoskeleton-sporting Heavy Troopers. Most are capable of propelling their small metal slugs at speeds in-excess of MACH-10, making them exceptional at defeating armor.**


	2. Chapter 2: Normandy

**Chapter 2: Normandy**

Annalise Shepard stepped into the rather spacious office belonging to Admiral Steven Hackett, her dress uniform immaculately pressed and put together. She had her shoulder-length red hair down, and a naval officer's cap resting atop her head. She snapped into a crisp salute as she stepped into Hackett's office, which he waved off with a nod. "Thank you for coming, Operative Shepard." He said, motioning for her to take a seat. "Chancellor Stratton is rather impressed by your progress in your Command Specialization Training."

"I've been putting in my all, sir." Shepard responded, swelling with pride as the knowledge of the Chancellor himself being impressed with her.

"That's become quite apparent." Hackett responded, a small smirk crossing his face. "You've already shown an incredibe aptitude for command, and you're not even halfway through your Specialization Training. Hence why I called you here." Hackett reached into a drawer in his desk, pulling out a small white case. Shepard immediately recognized the case as one that would be used to present medals or rank pins during a promotion ceremony. He flipped the case open, revealing a pair of Commander's pins, and placed the case in front of Annalise. "Congratulations, Commander." He began. "Chancellor Stratton, after consulting with the N7 Instructors, has deemed you and your team worthy of bypassing the more mundane aspects of Specialization Training. Welcome to the ranks of the N7."

Annalise was truly speechless. She half-expected a pep talk and a commendation, not a promotion to Commander and getting to skip the remainder of training. She managed to compose herself just before her silence could be taken as weird. "Thank you, sir… this is an honor."

"An honor that you've earned, Shepard." Hackett said, smiling. "And considering that you're an Officer now, you're going to need more men to command than just your fireteam." Hackett produced a small file from a stack on his desk, sliding it over to Shepard and inviting her to open it.

Shepard opened up the small filing folder, finding a rather small stack of papers to be resting inside. The first paper she saw was a photograph of the nearly-completed hull of a ship she had never seen before. It was far sleeker than the average human ship, missing many of the protruding weapon hardpoints or missile pods. Its armor was smooth and black, unlike the normal white and grey of normal UHE warships. It was also notably smaller, looking no longer than 150 meters in length, barely a corvette's size. Hackett spoke up as he watched Shepard look over the photograph. "The Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate, the UHE's sixth-generation stealth warship. Outfitted with thermal sinks to reduce heat emissions, optical camouflage to prevent visual detection, and a Mk. II Stealth Void Drive. She's not too well-armed, only sporting a single Plasma Lance in a spinal mount, four missile launch pods, and a nose-mounted mass accelerator cannon, but she's fast and quiet."

Shepard glanced over a small diagnostics sheet, outlining the vast array of sensors, stealth equipment, and crew composition. She was rather surprised to not only be seeing an obviously experimental ship, but to have that ship be a stealth vessel. She knew that the last stealth ship was in production over four hundred years ago. The only reason to make a new one would be… "We're breaking the Protocol with this?" Shepard asked, the pieces falling into place in her mind.

" _You're_ breaking the Protocol, Shepard." Hackett corrected. "That vessel, the _UHE Normandy_ , will be placed under your command once she's completed. We need intel on the Council before we can make a move, and your ship will be at the head of the intelligence-gathering." Hackett leaned back in his seat, glancing over to a terminal as it beeped. "It's slated to leave the dry-dock in two months. You'll be given the best crew that the Navy has to offer, with your team serving as the officers on board the vessel. I have no doubt that you'll be successful in your mission, Commander. You'll be briefed when we're a bit closer to the mission's launch."

"Thank you sir…" Shepard said, suppressing a smile that tempted to cross the gap between respectful and stupid. "I'll notify my team immediately."

"Very well, Commander." Hackett said, standing up and shaking Annalise's hand. "You and your team are hereby granted shore leave here on Earth until your deployment to Council Space."

Hackett gave Shepard a quick salute, which she returned. "Dismissed, Commander."

XXXXX

"Congratulations, Shepard!" Ashley said, wrapping her old friend in a hug. "We're getting our own frigate!"

"Huh…" Alenko commented, smirking slightly. "I would've taken you for a Dreadnought kinda girl, Ash."

"They are similar…" Miranda commented, a sly grin on her face. "Both are slow, loud, and carry oversized guns."

"Ouch…" Ashley said, placing a hand over her heart in mock hurt. "You hurt me so, Miri."

Shepard leaned back in her seat in the booth of a small bar, smiling as he teammates bounced playful banter off one-another. Miranda's quick-wit and Ashley's crass humor made for a very interesting slew of insults, with Alenko occasionally adding fuel to the fire by egging them on a bit. Shepard simply smiled, knowing that she'd be able to enjoy a bit of leave before her extended mission.

XXXXX

Councilor Tevos sat in her personal quarters of the Asari Dreadnought, _Destiny Ascension_. She had continued digging through the Citadel Archives for the past two months, still turning up absolutely nothing about this Relay. The _Ascension_ was designated as the flagship of the activation fleet, meant to provide support should any incident arise. The fleet was comprised of two Turian Dreadnoughts, eight Turian Heavy Cruisers, two Asari Cruisers, eight Turian Destroyers, and twelve Salarian Frigates, an incredible amount of firepower to simply activate one Relay.

It had been nearly six months since the Council ordered the Relay activated, but this normally routine procedure was proving rather difficult. It was as if this Relay had protective measures to ensure that it was never activated. They had finally started to make headway with the activation, breaching through and starting the process. Even when the firewalls of the Relay had been breached, there was still something slowing the activation. Normally, this procedure took a few days, and every system in the fleet said that the activation would be complete in one week. Something just felt off about this whole situation, and the lack of information about this specific Relay was only making those feelings worse.

She glanced out of the small viewport of her quarters, spotting the Relay in the distance, with the Salarian scientific frigates milling about, trying to activate it. She sighed, turning back to her Terminal and scanning through the Archives again. She carried on reading the same few documents until she could hardly keep her eyes open. She tiredly got to her feet, closing the Terminal, and stepped over to her bed. She immediately fell into the soft embrace of the sheets, falling asleep a few moments later.

The days continued to roll by, with the slow progress continuing on the Relay. More and more benign messages were passed along to the Councilor as she oversaw the activation, most of them having to do with the other two Councilors incessantly asking for progress reports. She had almost gotten so engrossed in her work that she missed the moment of truth, the activation of the Exodus Relay.

As she looked out into the void of space, she noticed the pair of rings near the center of the teardrop-shaped construct begin spinning at rapid speeds, a small ball of dark energy forming in the center of the innermost ring, casting a pale blue light on the rest of the Relay's form. As the final pulse sounded off, causing the once-dormant relay to shift into its active state, Tevos let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

After a few moments of staring at the Relay, she let out a soft chuckle, seeing nothing of any note happening. "Honestly… what could've happened?" Tevos asked herself, smiling as she activated her Omni-Tool. "Admiral, you're cleared to send the exploration vessel through."

"Of course, Councilor." Came the Turian Admiral's response, which was promptly cut off as he ended the communication from his end.

Tevos watched as a small frigate moved towards the Relay. The ship got into range of the Relay, allowing a tendril of blue energy to reach out, grabbing the vessel, and propelling it along at impossibly high-speeds towards its destination in unexplored space.

XXXXX

Hackett stepped onto the bridge of the Sol Defense Fleet's flagship, _UHE Retribution_. The ship was the first of its class, the Retribution-Class Dreadnought. It was a sight to behold, stretching a powerful eight kilometers in length, with a massive array of weapons systems. Its main armament was a truly awe-inspiring piece of hardware: The Inferno-IV, a spinal-mounted directed energy weapon that utilized the massive power output of the ship's dual Neutronium core. Its main beam was a mere six meters in diameter, but burned at well over ten trillion degrees Kelvin, several factors of ten hotter than a supernova detonation. It was the most devastating weapon in the UHE arsenal, and could only be outfitted on the Retribution-Class, due to its sheer power requirements.

The bridge of _Retribution_ was bustling with activity, all of the ensigns running about, with sensors blaring in every direction. "Status report!" Hackett demanded as his First Officer turned to salute him.

"The Relay has been activated, Admiral!" The Officer reported. "It just came to life out of nowhere, we didn't detect anything from our end that could've activated it."

"Son of a bitch…" Hackett muttered. "Notify Commander Shepard that her mission just got moved forward a month. Tell her to report to the Phoenix Shipyards immediately!"

"Aye, sir!" The Officer said, rushing over to the communications terminal to forward the orders.

"Admiral Hackett, we have a Relay Signature on sensors!" The sensor systems ensign shouted, causing Hackett to look at the terminal. What he saw was rather humorous, a single tiny frigate, no more than 100 meters in length. It appeared unarmed, and lacked any means of damaging a UHE ship. Hackett's terminal identified the ship's engine signatures as a Mass Effect Drive Core, the energy released indicative of Turian construction.

"Hail that ship immediately!" Hackett ordered, turning to face a view-screen.

"Admiral, it's turning tail!" An ensign reported. "It's heading for the Relay."

"Fire forward batteries." Hackett ordered. On his command, a Plasma Lance shot forward from the bow of _Retribution,_ slamming into the side of the small frigate. Its meager Kinetic Barriers stopped the kinetic effects of the plasma for a time, but the hull boiled under the intense heat. The hull's integrity was compromised, followed by the Kinetic Barriers falling, leading to the small frigate simply shattering under the force of the Plasma Lance's fire. Hackett breathed out a sigh as he watched the signature of the Council ship simply vanish from his readout, indicating that it had been destroyed.

Hackett turned to face the Communications Officer. "Give the order, The Protocol has just been breached. We need all UHE Naval Forces here immediately… And someone get Shepard here right-goddamn-now!"

XXXXX

Shepard strolled through the airlock of the _Normandy_ , the skeleton crew milling about as they performed some of the final maintenance on the new warship. Shepard stepped onto the bridge, surprised at the sheer amount of computers and the presence of only a single seat. Shepard saw a man sitting at the helm of the vessel, a pair of Flight Lieutenant's wings on his collar. He wore a Pilot's hat, which had "SR-1" stitched into the front. He had a light beard, and was busy swiping his hands across the holographic displays of the bridge's systems. "Welcome aboard, Commander." He said, smiling as he swiveled around in his chair. "Come to check on your new ship?"

'Informal… good.' Shepard thought, nodding to the Flight Lieutenant. "Sure have." Shepard said, a feeling of pride welling up in her chest as she looked around the Bridge. "The crew's made some impressive progress."

"Damn right we have." The Pilot responded with a smile. "She's the first of her kind, you'd better believe we're putting our all into her."

Before Shepard could respond, Kaidan walked past the Bridge on his way to the CIC, a small smirk on his face. "Don't let Joker get to you, Commander."

"Joker?" Annalise asked, smiling. "Interesting name."

The Pilot, who Annalise now knew as Joker, simply sighed. "It's not exactly a name I picked. My real name's Jeff Moreau."

"Where'd Joker come from?" Shepard asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"My instructor in Flight School." Joker responded, shaking his head in exasperation. "He always jabbed at me about never smiling, so he gave me the nickname Joker. Sadly, it kinda stuck around after I got my wings. Because, apparently, you're supposed to have fun in Flight School, not learn how to fly."

Shepard smiled, hearing Joker ramble a bit. "Did you get selected by Hackett for this job?"

"Damn straight I did." Joker said, proudly. "That's what I did when I was actually paying attention, learning how to be the best damn pilot in the Navy. I can jump you halfway across Human space and hit a target the size of a pinhead."

"Well, I'm glad you're at the helm, Joker." Shepard said, a sly grin on her face.

"Goddamnit… it never ends." Joker said, turning back around to finish his diagnostic.

Annalise smirked as she stepped out of the Bridge, making her way through the hallway of various stations leading to the CIC. As she looked about the CIC, she saw a holographic map of the entire Galaxy, with certain points highlighted. She recognized all of those locations as being Mass Relays. As she walked towards the Galaxy Map, a pair of Marines saluted. She waved their salute off, taking a look around the CIC's main area. On the left-hand side of the ramp leading up to the Galaxy Map, there stood a small personal computer terminal, a small blinking light on the monitor, notifying the user of a message. On the right-hand side of the ramp stood a woman wearing a standard Naval service uniform, Specialist's pins on her collar. She had slightly darker skin, probably of Indian or Pakistani descent, and a head of black hair cropped at the shoulders. Annalise couldn't tell if she was simply so engrossed in whatever she was doing on her terminal, or she was intentionally trying to avoid eye contact with her. Annalise walked towards the ramp to the Galaxy map. "Specialist." She said, causing the young woman to jump slightly.

XXXXX

Samantha Traynor stood at her terminal, constantly working to synchronize the mountains and mountains of data that were flooding in through the Primary QEC from all over the System. Sensor data, fleet movements, hell, even civilian traffic reports were all flooding into the Normandy's databanks, and it was Samantha's job to make sure the system was working properly.

Samantha sighed as she looked up from her Terminal for the first time in what felt like an eternity, truly surprised by the sight before her. Across the deck, in the bridge, Joker sat talking with an officer. This officer was obviously a woman, given her figure and longer hair, but she was notably more well-built than any officer she had ever seen before.

 _A new deck officer?_ Samantha thought to herself.

 _A deck officer with a wonderful ass_. Sam thought, immediately pushing those thoughts from her mind. _Get real, Traynor… she's your superior._ Samantha was honestly surprised when the new officer turned around. She had bright red hair cut off at the shoulder, freckles dotting her face, and a pair of obviously green eyes that almost seemed to have a back-light behind the irises. Sam immediately recognized her as Commander Annalise Shepard, the acting Captain of the _Normandy_.

She quickly ducked her head back down towards her Terminal, praying to whatever God might exist that the Commander didn't notice her. She had no idea what to expect from this woman, other than she was N7. She had only heard rumors of the N7 Program's soldiers, all of them speaking of all-business soldiers that would do anything to accomplish their objective, and everything meant _everything_.

Sam did her best to look busy at her terminal, even though the automated program that she had just finished installing was doing most of the work. She purposelessly swiped through file after file, hoping to look busy. Just as she prepared to let out the breath she was holding, a rather calm voice startled her back into reality. "Specialist?"

XXXXX

The Specialist before Annalise jumped slightly, letting out an almost inaudible squeak in the process. If Annalise didn't feel a twinge of guilt, having obviously startled the young-looking Specialist, she would've found that rather adorable. The young woman took a moment to compose herself before saluting Shepard. "C-Commander Shepard. Comms Specialist Samantha Traynor."

"At ease, Traynor." Shepard said, waving the gesture off.

"Of course, ma'am." Traynor said. "Is… is there anything I can help you with?"

"Just getting to know my crew, Specialist." Annalise responded, giving a small, comforting smile. "And just Commander will do."

"Of course, ma-… err, Commander." Traynor stuttered, shifting her stance uncomfortably.

Annalise smiled. "Slow down, Specialist Traynor… you're doing fine."

"Thank you… I'm used to working in a lab, never thought I'd be serving on a ship."

"Well, You've obviously impressed someone, since Hackett hand-picked the crew for the _Normandy_. What did you work on?"

"I worked on Quantum Entanglement Mechanics at Oxford, back on Earth." Traynor explained. "Since the Normandy's using a QEC that my team helped develop, Hackett wanted me to serve as the ship's Comms Specialist."

"Well, I'm glad to have you aboard." Shepard said, earning a small smile from Traynor.

Before either of them could continue, Samantha's terminal pinged rather loudly. She turned to look, surprised to find a Priority-1 message from Admiral Hackett's flagship. "Commander, Admiral Hackett has sent a message, Priority-1."

"Pull it up." Annalise said, looking at the terminal.

"He wants us to report to the Charon Relay immediately." Samantha read aloud, paling slightly near the end of the message. "The Relay has been activated and a Council Scout was destroyed."

Annalise's mind worked to process what was happened, seeing as war was just effectively declared. She shook herself out of the stupor her mind had locked her in, then gave the first order of her command. "Joker, plot a course for Charon!"

XXXXX

Shepard felt the ship jolt slightly as the Void Drive powered down, her point on the Bridge giving her an excellent view of the Relay, and the Fleet. The normally moderate-sized fleet guarding Charon was being added to right before her eyes. Since the Relay had gone active, there were more and more ships pouring into the area, surrounding the Relay. The _Retribution_ , the largest ship in the fleet, started ominously at the ancient alien construct. "Hackett's hailing us." Joker said.

"Bring it up." Annalise responded, looking to the small deploying screen in front of her and Joker.

After a few moments, a video feed of Admiral Hackett appeared before her, a look of determination on his face. "Commander Shepard, the Protocol has been broken."

"I can see that, Admiral, what are my orders?" Shepard asked, knowing full-well the gravity of the situation.

"Make a maximum-power jump to the Exodus Cluster immediately." Hackett ordered. "I need to know what's coming, if the Council hasn't already mobilized against us. And keep your QEC open. The fleet will be right behind you if anything happens."

"Aye sir." Annalise said, giving a curt nod.

"Get it done, Shepard… Hackett out."

"You heard him, Joker." Shepard said, motioning to her Pilot.

"Aye, Commander." Joker said, pressing the required keys on his terminal to start the spooling process for the Void Drive. After a few moments of the Normandy spooling up and repositioning itself, it formed the required strength micro-singularity and jumped out of the Sol System, headed for the Exodus Cluster.

XXXXX

Tevos stood on the Bridge of _Destiny Ascension_ , watching the resting fleet with a sense of worry. It had been nearly an hour since the scout ship passed through the Relay, and there was no sign of it returning. A feeling of uneasiness was quite evident throughout the entire crew, with many of them constantly on the lookout for any sign of the small corvette.

"Huh… strange…" One of the Asari manning the sensor station commented.

"What is it?" Tevos asked.

"We just detected a small gravitational anomaly in Sector Four, then it vanished as quick as it came." The Asari responded, forwarding the data to Tevos's Omni-Tool. She read over the data, and the anomaly was so minute that she wouldn't have thought anything of it… if she didn't have a million worst-case scenarios playing through her head.

"Keep on the lookout for that ship, if it's not back in an hour, we're going through the Relay."

"Aye, Ma'am." The _Ascension_ 's First Officer responded.

XXXXX

"Commander, stealth systems are operational." Joker reported. "I'm detecting a rather sizable Council Fleet in the system, all of them concentrated around the Relay."

"Have we been spotted?" Shepard asked, glancing to the sensor readout.

"Nope… we're hidden." Joker responded. "They don't seem to be mobilizing… they might be waiting for the small ship we destroyed to return."

"Forward what we have to Hackett." Shepard ordered. "Can we intercept their comms?"

"I'd rather not test our ability to intercept communications when our support is in another system, especially when we have a whopping _one_ Plasma Lance."

"Fair enough." Shepard responded. Annalise looked out from the viewport as the _Normandy_ drifted along on its Stealth Thrusters, nearing the Council Fleet. "That is, hands down, the ugliest ship I've ever seen." She said, gesturing to the strange purple vessel that appeared to have the basic shape of a cross, but had a hollow center for some reason or another.

"That's a new one… doesn't exist in our databanks…" Joker commented. "Might have to play it smart around that one."

"If it's as powerful as it is stupid-looking, we'll have an issue." Shepard said, smiling slightly.

"Hackett's on the QEC, Commander." Joker said, activating the communication again.

"Commander, I've scanned over your reports and sensor data." Hackett said. "This is a problem… two of those ship classifications have never been seen before."

"Further orders, sir?" Shepard asked.

Hackett thought long and hard for a few moments, finally coming to a decision. "Hail them."

"Excuse me, sir?" Shepard asked.

"Hail them, and patch me through the communication." Hackett said. "Stratton wants to give them a single chance to surrender."

"Aye sir… Joker, lower the Stealth Systems and hail the weird-looking one." Shepard ordered.

"Yes, Commander…" Joker said, beginning to flush the thermal sinks and deactivate the optical camouflage. The instant he flushed the thermal sinks, he noticed every Council ship in the system begin scanning them wildly. "We just poked the hornet's nest… Hailing the flagship."

XXXXX

Just as Tevos turned to leave the Bridge, she heard a loud shout from the Sensors station. "Councilor, we've detected a ship in the system. I don't recognize its IFF."

"What?!" Tevos asked, walking over to the terminal. The ship before her had the strangest silhouette she had ever seen. It was obviously a frigate of some kind, but was highly sloped in its design and covered in pitch-black armored plating. It simply stared directly at the _Destiny Ascension_ from near the Mass Relay, looking strange all the while.

"It's obviously a Stealth Ship of some kind, since it just appeared right in front of us." The ensign added. "Stranger yet… it has no Eezo signatures."

"Wait… what?" Tevos asked, amazed.

"We're detecting no Element Zero radiation coming from the ship… it is using something _far_ more powerful." The ensign explained. "Its reactor signature is unlike anything I've ever seen before… it's registering as a gravitational anomaly."

"By the Godddess…" Tevos whispered under her breath. She had never thought it to be possible to create non-Eezo drive cores for starships, but here one was, staring her down.

"Ma'am, they're hailing us!" The communications ensign shouted.

"Patch them through!" Tevos ordered.

Before Tevos's eyes appeared the holographic projection of a vaguely Asari-like creature. It had a similar facial structure, but its skin appeared to be a lighter color. It also hade chitin hairs along its face and head, obviously evolved to retain body heat in more extreme temperatures. It had a pair of rather cold-looking eyes, which seemed to regard Tevos with… disgust. Tevos felt a chill run down her spine as she heard the alien begin speaking… its words being translated to Asari from their end. It was obviously an older dialect, but it was still perfectly understandable. "I am Admiral Steven Hackett of the United Human Empire." The Alien began, his voice deep and powerful. "And you are encroaching upon Human Space."

 **Codex Updated:**

 **Retribution-Class Carrier Dreadnought: A mix between a super-dreadnought and a fighter carrier. The Retribution-Class is designed for planetary sieges and the deployment of massive fighter screens. It is the second-largest classification of UHE warship, stretching over eight kilometers in length and packing enough firepower to reduce an entire fleet to ash in a single barrage. There are currently 3 of these warships in service, with two of them being attached to the Sol Defense Fleet.**

 **Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate: The UHE's latest attempt at Stealth warfare, designed to be completely invisible on both sensors and to the naked eye. There is a single warship of this type in service throughout the entire navy, with the project to create it running well over two billion Credits.**


	3. Chapter 3: Second Contact War

**Chapter 3: Second Contact War**

Tevos stood, stunned, as she looked at the rather interesting looking alien. Hackett simply stared at her for a few moments before speaking again. "I am aware that you can understand me, there's no other reason for you to be staring at a screen, mouth agape."

"We were unaware that this Relay was connected to your space." Tevos replied, composing herself before the representative of a completely new species.

Hackett let out a bark of laughter, sending another chill down Tevos' spine. "Really? Has the Council already forgotten its contact with Humanity?"

"We've never made contact with your species before." Tevos responded, slightly shaken that this alien already knew who she represented.

"Four billion lives would beg to differ, Asari." Hackett responded, the venom dripping from his words only frightening Tevos more, as he rattled off the name of her species without a moment's hesitation.

"Four billion lives?" Tevos asked.

"September 12, 2025… nine hundred and seventy three years ago." Hackett explained. "The Citadel Council arrived over Earth, brining promises of peace. Those promises left our homeworld shattered and half of our population dead."

"That's preposterous. This relay has never been activated." Tevos answered.

"Tell me… how long ago did your kind discover this relay?" Hackett asked, the answer immediately reverberating in Tevos' mind. "Nine hundred and seventy five years ago." Hackett finished the sentence before she could respond. "There is old news footage of Turians marching through the streets with flamethrowers, Asari flailing humans around with your Biotics, and Salarians deploying chemical weapons against the general populace… all because we did not want to kneel at your feet." Hackett's expression twisted into one mirroring disgust. "You declared war on the Human Species over our homeworld, and a treaty was never signed. The First Contact War never came to an official end… so our Chancellor is giving you a chance to end it here, in the Exodus Cluster."

"The Council is perfectly willing to open up diplomatic discussion between Humanity and the Council species again." Tevos tried.

"The time for diplomacy is a millennium past, Asari." Hackett responded. "I've been cleared to offer you a _single_ chance. Surrender unconditionally to the UHE, and diplomatic talks can take place… on our terms, this time."

Tevos winced as a few of the bridge officer chuckled at the seemingly hollow threat, but she had a nagging feeling that Hackett had expected that response. "Allow me to contact the rest of the Council, and I'll relay this… offer to them."

"Ah… you're a Councilor. Even better." Hackett said, flashing an almost predatory smile. "You have exactly one hour, Galactic Standard time." With that, the human vessel halted the communication, then disappeared, simply fading into the backdrop of the stars.

"Can we track that vessel?" Tevos asked.

"Negative… it's gone." The Sensors station responded. "No thermal signature, no Mass Effect core, no visuals."

"Goddess…" Tevos began. "Someone set up contact with the Citadel, right now!"

Tevos made her way towards the conference room near the Bridge of _Destiny Ascension_. Thankfully, waiting for her, was the holographic projections of Sparatus and Mesu. "Tevos, what's going on there?" Sparatus asked, his brow cocked in a questioning manner.

"The Relay has been activated… and we have apparently made Second Contact with a previously discovered species." Tevos explained.

"What?" Mesu asked, unbelieving. "That's impossible."

"I would've said that too, if their representative didn't name all three Council species, the time when we discovered this Relay, and had already translated our languages." Tevos said, earning looks of concern from the other Councilors.

"What did you encounter?" Sparatus asked.

"A single frigate, by the looks of it." Tevos explained. "It's outfitted with thermal sinks, optical camouflage, and some sort of laser-jamming ablative coating. That and… it doesn't use Element Zero for its drive core."

"What?!" Mesu demanded. "How could that be possible?! Mass Effect Drive Cores are the only possible form of faster-than-light travel. There have been propositions for other types of drive cores, but nothing has ever come to fruition."

"The _Destiny Ascension_ has the most advanced sensor array in the entire Citadel fleet, and we didn't detect a single atom of Eezo on that ship." Tevos declared.

"Well… what did they say when they made contact?" Sparatus asked.

"They… they claimed the Councilors of 900 years ago initiated a conflict with them while they were still pre-FTL. Apparently, they did not take kindly to that Council requesting them to join."

"That's simply insane." Sparatus defended. "Why would we declare war on a pre-spaceflight species?"

"I have no idea… but according to their Admiral, the estimated death toll for these 'Humans' was well over four billion." Tevos continued. "They call themselves the United Human Empire, which is apparently headed by a Chancellor. I wouldn't be inclined to believe these aliens if they didn't already know so much about us."

"Spirits…" Sparatus said, shaking his head. "How would this go unnoticed? Wouldn't there be records within the Citadel's Archives?"

"I've read over everything in the archives, and these Humans are never mentioned… it's strange." Tevos said, wondering.

"I could have an answer…" Mesu began. "Every action of the Council has to be recorded in the Archives, correct?" Everyone in the conference nodded, prompting the Salarian to continue. "And who has the power to remove records from the Archives, or prevent their addition altogether?"

"The Council…" Sparatus finished, letting out a sigh. "Damn… They tried to cover up something like that? What did they expect would happen?"

"There was one other thing…" Tevos continued, catching the attention of the other councilors. "The Human I talked to, Admiral Steven Hackett, as he was called, said that no formal treaty was ever signed between the Humans and the Council." The entire conference stood in stunned silence, realizing the implications of such a thing.

"That would mean…" Mesu began.

"The war never ended." Tevos finished, letting out a sigh. "Hackett did give us a means to end this war before it begins, however."

"Being?" Sparatus asked.

"The unconditional surrender of the Council to the United Human Empire." Tevos finished.

Sparatus scoffed. "Arrogant newcomers…" Sparatus could be seen typing a few commands into his computer terminal. "I'm mobilizing a fleet to ensure your ability to leave that system." Sparatus said, turning back to the call. "If these Humans are serious about war, then we'll give them one."

"Sparatus…" Tevos began, but she found herself cut off by the Turian Councilor.

"You can't tell me that you're honestly considering that alien's offer, Tevos!" Sparatus declared, his voice raising significantly. "You would surrender to a force that, for all we know, is miniscule compared to the Council. We've been the protectors of this galaxy for almost three thousand years, and I am not willing to surrender to brutes like this!" Sparatus sighed, taking a deep breath to compose himself with. "You said that the Exodus Relay leads to their Home System?" Tevos nodded in response. "Excellent. We beat them back through the Relay, jump into their System, and surround their world."

"That would be a sound strategy… if we knew more about these aliens." Mesu argued, rubbing his chin. "However… it does appear to be our only feasible option. I stand with Sparatus on this, we need a fleet there to ensure your ability to return to the Citadel and to provide support against these Aliens."

Before Tevos could argue against such a brash military action, Sparatus cut her off. "Then we're in agreement, I'll contact the Hierarchy, the fleet will be there in under an hour." With that, Sparatus and Mesu cut the communication, leaving a stunned, and honestly terrified Tevos.

"Goddess…" She muttered to herself.

XXXXX

Annalise sighed as the _Normandy_ reactivated her stealth systems, quickly moving away from its previous position to avoid any potential fire from the Council fleet. She turned to look at the communications screen, which still had a connection to _Retribution_. "Do you think they'll accept, Admiral?"

"I'm banking on they won't." Hackett responded. "I'm pulling a fleet into the system, sit tight and report any changes in the situation to me immediately."

"Aye, sir." Annalise responded, saluting as Hackett cut the communication.

Annalise stood on the bridge, watching as the Council fleet wildly scanned the wrong sector of space, a small smile on her face. "I'd say the Normandy-Class is a success…" She commented.

"I'd have to agree with you on that one, Shepard." Joker responded. "I'm almost tempted to fire off a Plasma Lance and watch them try and figure that one out."

"We'll let the fleet do the talking. For now, we need to stay quiet and watch."

Annalise stood on the bridge for another half hour, watching the Council Fleet make the same mistakes. Irresponsible use of loud scanning arrays, staying stationary for too long, and sitting in disarray as they tried to look for a far more mobile and agile frigate. After about forty minutes, Joker surprised her by catching her attention. "Commander, we're detecting more Relay Signatures."

"How many?"

"Twenty five, all of them entering the system." Joker said, forwarding the data to Shepard. She scanned over the sensor data as the ships entered the system, and wasn't terribly surprised. All of the vessels were of Turian design, with two of them being Dreadnoughts. The rest were a mix of mostly heavy cruisers, with the occasional light cruiser or destroyer thrown into the mix. What did surprise her was what the ugly-looking ship was doing. It was moving towards the Relay, seeming to retreat.

"They're already running?" Shepard said, chuckling to herself. "Cowards…" She pressed a few keys on the console before her, bringing Hackett's communication back online. "Admiral, the Councilor's ship is moving to leave the system, and a full Turian combat fleet just jumped into the system to take its place."

"Son of a bitch…" Hackett muttered. "The fleet's still five minutes out… that damned Asari will be long-gone." Hackett shook his head. "Nevermind, they've made their decision. ETA: Four minutes, Shepard. Sit tight."

Shepard responded by doing just that, watching as the _Destiny Ascension_ jumped out of the system. A few moments later, the ship's sensor array pinged with over forty friendly IFFs, with twenty five of them registering as Atlas-Class Heavy Cruisers, twelve registering as Strident-Class Destroyers, five registering as Ares-Class Battlecruisers, and two registering as Petrovsky-Class Carriers.

The Heavy Cruisers looked rather menacing, given their dark grey armored plating, massively thick armor, and the fact that they stretched to almost 2 kilometers. They had a rather blocky and rough appearance, with each one giving off a rather blatant aura of power as they jumped into the system, emerging in a very orderly arrowhead formation.

The Destroyers were concentrated near the center of the formation, and they had a very distinct appearance when compared to the cruisers. They were armored with similar grey plating, but were far smaller, only coming in at 400 meters in length. Each one looked rather pointed in its design, with a rather thin hull that slowly grew wider and thicker as it reached the engines in the rear of the vessel.

The battlecruisers were at the tip of the formation, each of them coming at 2.6 kilometers and had a similar appearance to the Heavy Cruisers. The main difference was their wider array of armaments and shielding technology. Each one packed a powerful array of Plasma Lances and short-pulse ion cannons. Its forked bow gave it a strange appearance when compared to the blockier heavy cruisers.

The Carriers were a very different story. Each of them was very flat in design, but stretched 3.2 kilometers in length. Each one was rather unarmed, with the exception of their Blitzer-II Close-In Weapons Systems. Each one had the capacity to carry 700 fighter spacecraft, most of them designed for ship bombardment or fighter interception. They were at the very back of the formation.

The immensely powerful-looking UHE Fleet seemed to glare daggers at the Council Fleet, with the only thing breaking the silence being the ping from the QEC. "Commander, Hackett's patching the entire fleet into the communication." With that, Joker brought up a screen that depicted Hackett, addressing the Council Fleet. More specifically, he was addressing the Turian Admiral on the other end of the communication.

"I see your fleet's received some reinforcements." Hackett began, clasping his hands behind his back. "Thankfully, so has mine."

The Turian cleared his throat, obviously shaking himself out of the stupor of seeing such a massive fleet, with equally massive ships. _'They're all dreadnoughts… they're massive…'_ The Turian thought to himself. "I am Admiral Desolas Arterius of the Turian Hierarchy, your threats are not taken lightly, Admiral Hackett."

"Nor are your encroachments on our space, Turian." Hackett responded, refusing to use the Turian's name. "Tell me… have you considered our Chancellor's offer?"

Desolas honestly reconsidered the offer when he saw the full scope of the Human fleet, especially the fact that the smallest ship in their fleet was larger than one of his own cruisers. "We… will not surrender to you. Not unconditionally, at least."

"Very well." Hackett responded, his predatory smile returning, flashing eerily white teeth. "In a strange way… I pity you, Xeno." With that, Hackett cut the communication.

Before the Council Fleet could react, the forward Battlecruisers let out a full barrage with their forward Plasma Lances, splashing against the hull of the three Turian Dreadnoughts. Within an instant, two of the Dreadnoughts simply detonated, having the superheated Strontium vapor boil their hull plates and cooking the crew alive inside. One Dreadnought was able to sustain the long-pulse weapons, but was severely crippled by the barrage. The crippling was intentional, as the engines in specific were targeted, along with the Bridge.

The Human Heavy Cruisers simply fired off a wide barrage of short-pulse ion cannons, the superheated Gallium ions slamming into the kinetic barriers of the Turian and Asari cruisers with unbelieveable force and speed. While the individual impact of a single Ion Cannon was rather ineffective, a massive alpha-strike against a numerically inferior force proved devastating. Rather easily, all of the Asari Cruisers were simply swatted from space. Eight of the Turian Cruisers remained, their stronger kinetic barriers faring far better.

The Human Carriers each deployed 200 Falcon multi-role fighters from their hull-embedded hangers, their rounded, yet angular appearance and aerodynamic design making them stand out from the relatively blockier human ships. All 400 fighters quickly accelerated to a speed that would have shattered the sound barrier on Earth six times over. They moved to engage the smaller, slower, but slightly more maneuverable Turian fighters.

The Destroyers in the Fleet each deployed a rather unconventional weapon. Each one fired off a single missile, which quickly deployed through its stages and accelerated to breakneck speeds. The smaller Council vessels were able to utilize their GARDIAN Lasers to swat down four of the five missiles, but one managed to break through. Once it reached a large concentration of small Council Frigates, the missile detonated. In a single blinding flash, the small five megaton nuclear warhead encased in a light, weak aluminum alloy detonated. While the detonation itself did very little to damage the shielded vessels, the after-effects were devastating. The neutrino warhead dispersed enough lethally ionizing neutrino radiation to kill a healthy human within fifteen seconds, silencing four Council Frigates and three Turian Destroyers, while leaving all of their infrastructure and systems intact.

The Council's fleet had been utterly neutered in the span of a few short moments, with some of their heaviest-hitting warships knocked out in the first minute of the engagement. Most of the Turian Heavy Cruisers simply focused their fire on the forward Battlecruiser, actually managing to breach its energy shields. The mass accelerators on the Turian Cruisers managed to strip a large portion of armor off of the starboard side of the vessel, venting two decks and sending them into lockdown.

The slower Turian fighters were simply blown past by the exponentially faster Human fighters, which began firing off fighter to fighter missiles and strafing the Turian fighters with small short-pulse Plasma Lances, barreling past them at high-speeds. Only a single unlucky squadron of twelve was taken down by the Turians.

The Council's fleet attempted another barrage, but their lack of focused fire had reduced the effectiveness of the mass accelerators greatly, barely scratching the surface of the powerful shields aboard the Heavy Cruisers. A single weakly-shielded Human Destroyer caught an unlucky mass accelerator slug to its weaker flattened armor near the mid-ship. The slug over-penetrated, but had managed to slam into the Neutronium Reactor Core, causing the reaction to destabilize and shut down, leaving a silent destroyer floating through space.

In a blinding display of light, the Human fleet deployed a barrage of long-pulse Plasma Lances, each of the superheated beams spearing into the kinetic barriers of the Council vessels. The barriers held for a mere moment, but the sheer heat and energy being transferred proved too much to handle. Plating aboard the Council vessels boiled and buckled, eventually splitting wide and allowing the Plasma Lances to cook the crews alive. A few Salarian vessels and Turian Cruisers found their drive cores hit by the superheated metallic gas, causing a complete overload and eventual detonation. In a bright display, six of the Council vessels simply flashed out of existence, vaporized by their own collapsing drive core. With their motherships gone, the Turian fighters were left to contend with both the Human ships and their fighters, whose numbers proved too overwhelming to defend against. After the devastating battle, the Council fleet was utterly annihilated, while the Human fleet suffered a single casualty.

Annalise watched with a sense of pride as dozens of UHE Heavy Transport Gunships were dispatched from the Cruisers, all of them bearing down on the crippled Turian Dreadnought. The heavier, bulkier gunships simply oriented themselves near the hangers of the Council vessel, punching through the armor with their forward cannons, and moved to land inside the depressurized hanger.

"I almost pity them…" Joker commented, watching as the dropships moved to deploy UHE Marines into the depths of the Turian vessel. "That wasn't even fair."

"Then they've gotten a taste of what we felt." Annalise countered.

"True enough, Commander."

XXXXX

Annalise stood in the communications room aboard the _Normandy_ , her briefing from Admiral Hackett underway. "Admiral, where is the Normandy needed next?"

"I'll let you take your pick here…" Hackett said. "We're about to open up three fronts, one on each of the Council Species. Due to its proximity, we're attacking Palaven."

"The Turian Homeworld?" Shepard asked.

"The same one…" Hackett responded, smiling. "They redirected a sizable fleet from Palaven's defense to attack us. You saw how that went. We're also moving on Lusia in Asari space. We plan on using that planet as a staging ground for an invasion on Thessia. Or… you can help us move on Mannovai, in Salarian Space."

"I think you already know my answer, sir." Annalise responded.

"Palaven it is then." Hackett said, nodding. "Have your crew prepared to jump in three days time. We're bringing our heavy-hitters to Palaven. Their defensive grid is surprisingly strong, if our new copies of the Citadel Codex are to be believed. We're going to need the _Normandy_ for recon operations in the system. Couldn't hurt to have some N7 on the ground, either."

"Understood sir, I'll relay the order immediately."

"Excellent." Hackett said, nodding. "I'll notify you as the situation changes." Hackett's face turned into a small smile. "Good luck, Commander."

XXXXX

Annalise sighed as she stared out the viewport of the _Normandy_ , seeing the same image of Palaven's moon Menae that she had been forced to stare at for the past four days. The Turians were obviously preparing, seeing as the size of Palaven's defense fleet had effectively doubled in the past two days. It had a fleet of well over 400 ships guarding it. It was quite clear that the UHE had the galaxy's "largest" military power spooked.

The defense fleet itself wasn't the main concern, given the survival ratio of the Turian ships against their Human counterparts. The orbital grid was far more concerning. Menae alone had dozens of orbital defense platforms around it. For the most part, they dealt with fighter hangers or orbital gun platforms. Their sheer number was quite impressive, and would certainly pose a rather decent obstacle.

Shepard was reminded of her purpose in the Starboard Observation Deck as the pneumatics of the door hissed, allowing her N7 Fireteam to step into the room. Calling it an Observation Deck was a rather interesting way to put it. It sported a pair of cushioned chairs, a wall-spanning couch on the far-left side, a few bookshelves filled with various shelf-stuffers and the occasional literary classic, a surprisingly stylish sofa and pair of armchairs surrounding a small metallic coffee table. What truly caught Annalise's attention was the rather sizable bar on the far-right side of the room, which had four shelves, all of them stocked with various liquors, spirits, and other alcoholic beverages. Being a stealth vessel, the _Normandy_ was stocked for enduring operations deep within enemy territory, and that apparently constituted the inclusion of a bar for the crew to use during their downtime.

"Enjoying the amenities, Commander?" Alenko asked, a small smirk on his face.

"It's not like I can get drunk." Annalise said, making reference to her body's hyperstimulated metabolism. As if to accent her point, she downed the remainder of her small glass of scotch. She shrugged. "I like the taste." As the rest of her team sat down, or leaned against the bar in Lawson's case, Annalise grabbed their attention. "Alright… It looks like Hackett's diverting a large portion of the 1st Fleet here. The Turians will have the numerical advantage, but he's ordered the deployment of the _Imperator_ to this front."

Williams let out an appreciative whistle. "Damn… Hackett really wants to bring the heat to this one. What about the other two fronts?"

"The Salarian navy is a joke." Annalise dismissed. "We could send a scout flotilla to take Sur'Kesh and still take minimal casualties. Those damned Lizards depend on subversion and covert operations, two things that don't work on us too well. The Asari are getting a similar treatment, but he's diverted a fair portion of the 2nd Fleet towards their space. Mostly light cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. Most of the heavier assets are being sent to Turian Space."

"What's our ROE for when the fighting starts?" Lawson asked.

"Here, Hackett wants Menae to burn." Annalise explained. "Complete orbital nuclear bombardment. Palaven, on the other hand, is to be taken and occupied."

"Occupied?!" Williams asked, surprised. "What the hell for?!"

At Shepard's glare, Williams returned her look to a more neutral one. "Well, 'occupied' might not do it justice. He wants the population to fear us, and he's sent the Death Corps to do just that."

Alenko's eyes went wide. "The Death Corps?"

"I never said that we'd be playing nice." Annalise said, her voice detached from the sheer knowledge that a division whose existence could be summed up as "A Walking War-Crime" would be sent to a civilian-heavy planet. "This is one of the most heavily-defended planets in Council Space, and Chancellor Stratton wants all opposition crushed."

"Where do we fit in?" Lawson asked, cocking her eyebrow. "I have a hard time believing that an N7 Team would spend this battle sitting in orbit."

"We're dropping in with the initial invasion." Annalise responded. "Our orders are simple… hunt down Turian government and military leaders until we completely occupy the planet. Our first target is the Turian Primarch, called Primarch Fedorian." Annalise transferred an image taken from a captured and decoded Council Codex and forwarded it to the three other operatives. The image depicted a male Turian with the distinct facial paintings of a native of Palaven "He'll most-likely be in Cipiritine, their Capital… and where the brunt of the Invasion will be hitting. If he cannot be killed or captured, our secondary objective is the capture or destruction of any high-level Turian Assets, from bases to commanders."

"Sounds easy enough…" Williams commented, nodding. "When do we get started?"

"Two days." Annalise responded, closing out the small datapad she was using for her briefing notes. "Check all of your gear, get anything you don't have from the requisitions officer down in the hanger, and get set for a hell of a fireworks show."

 **Codex Updated:**

 ** _Imperator_** **: An experimental, one-of-a-kind Dreadnought, generally attached to the Sol Defense Fleet. It is the largest vessel ever built by man, stretching an incredible distance and packing the firepower of a full UHE fleet. During peacetime, it is generally under the direct command of Chancellor Stratton.**

 **Death Corps: A full Corps of the most brutal, ruthless soldiers humanity has to offer. Undergoing training only slightly-more appealing than N7 Training, the Death Corps are often referred to as a 'War Crime Incarnate', given their widespread use of flamethrowers, chemical weapons, and various other non-conventional weapons. They are often trained on brutally inhospitable planets, subject to the worst conditions, and emerge hardened killers.**

 **Falcon: The mainstay of the UHE's fighter aircraft. They are highly maneuverable, blindingly fast, and armed to the teeth. They sport Mirco-Plasma lances, nuclear anti-ship torpedoes, and hypervelocity coilguns. They are capable of maneuvers that would kill the average human, were they flying any other craft, thanks to their wide array of maneuvering thrusters and ability to bleed speed. They are designated as Multi-Role Aircraft.**

 **Petrovsky-Class Carrier: The designated supercarrier of the UHE fleet, each one capable of carrying all manner of UHE aircraft into any battle. Their widespread use of the Blitzer-II CIWS makes them double as support vessels, able to intercept even the most impressive of missile barrages with their coilgun-assisted CIWS. They are abysmally armored, and lack any offensive weapons. In exchange, their shields are incredibly powerful, and they are able to carry more craft than any other ship in the UHE Navy.**

 **Ares-Class Battlecruiser: The main Ship-of-the-Line for the UHE. The Ares is the first ship into the fight, and is one of the heaviest-hitting weapons at the Navy's disposal. Each one carries upwards of two dozen Plasma Lances scattered around their hulls, along with upwards of six dozen Inferno-V Nuclear Launch Tubes. While they are not as heavily armored as their Heavy Cruiser counterparts, they are faster and far more agile. They use their momentum to their advantage, and are known to ram enemy ships with their forked bows, should the situation require.**

 **Atlas-Class Heavy Cruiser: Much like the mythical Titan, the Atlas-Class carries the weight of the UHE's existence on its shoulders. It's an older design, dating back to 2854, but it is far from outdated. Its massive armor, coupled with its massive shield generator, makes it capable of taking even the most obscene amount of damage. It sacrifices offensive capabilities for its defenses, which are easily able to take a direct nuclear attack. Their Plasma Lances are often considered inferior to their Ares-Class cousins, but are not to be scoffed at.**

 **Strident-Class Destroyer: One of the stranger vessels of the UHE Navy. It is far more sloped and sleek than any other vessel in the Navy. It uses its focus on spinal-mounted weaponry and dependence on its bow facing the enemy to increase its survivability against mass accelerators, even though it lacks the more powerful shield generators of a capital ship. Its main focus is on its spinal-mounted Planetcracker Mass Accelerator Cannon, which fires a 30 ton slug at 50% the speed of light. It is a true glass cannon.**

 **Neutrino Warhead: One of the most devastating weapons ever developed by humanity. They are nuclear fission warheads, encased in a weak alloy of aluminum that allows for a large volume of lethally ionizing radiation to escape. They use dirtier methods of fission, producing far more radiation than a cleaner Plutonium warhead. They are often used to render entire cities devoid of inhabitants, destroy entire armies in a matter of minutes, or cripple a ship without causing any outward damage. The radiation has an incredibly short half-life, generally between ten days to two weeks.**


	4. Chapter 4: Palaven

**Chapter 4: Priority: Palaven**

Annalise stood in front of the Galaxy Map, looking at the holographic display in a rather disinterested way. There were small markers on the map, showing UHE Fleet Positions. There were three fleets converging on each of the 3 Council Homeworlds. The fleet inbound for Thessia had already arrived at Lusia, a nearby colony world, and was in the process of besieging the planet. The fleet inbound for Sur'Kesh was attacking Mannovai, intending to cripple the Salarian Navy ahead of time. The fleet inbound to support _Normandy_ was about an hour out.

Traynor watched the Commander out of the corner of her eye, but focused her attention to the vast amount of information flooding through the Navy's QEC Network. There were thousands and thousands of terabytes of data being transferred every few minutes, creating quite the stress on the Navy's systems. Sam's job right now consisted mostly of preventing too much stress on the Normandy's experimental QEC.

The sheer number of forces being mobilized was staggering. Hundreds and hundreds of ships were being sent to the front, and millions of Marines and Army Infantry were on standby, ready to begin their respective invasions. This was what every UHE Soldier trained for, and something every Human had been working towards for nearly a millennia… that didn't stop Sam from being a nervous wreck. Seeing the entire crew of the _Normandy_ running about for the past hour wasn't doing much to ease the tension. Neither was seeing the Commander wearing her full combat gear, with the helmet resting on the railing of the Galaxy Map's elevated platform.

Sam jumped slightly as she saw a communication pop up on her display, marked as a Priority-1 from Admiral Hackett. "Commander!" Sam said, catching Shepard's attention. "Admiral Hackett's requesting a VidComm."

"Send it to my terminal." Shepard responded, stepping over towards the left-hand terminal next to the Galaxy Map. She pressed the confirmation key on the terminal's interface, bringing up the communication. "Admiral Hackett!" Shepard said, snapping into a salute.

"At ease, Shepard." Hackett dismissed.

Sam listened quietly as Shepard discussed with Hackett, picking up the occasional piece of information. None of it was classified, or else Shepard wouldn't have taken the communication right there in the CIC. At least… Sam hoped so. Of the occasional snippet she heard, the most interesting had to be the fact that Shepard would be on the ground once the UHE Navy secured Palaven's orbit. After nearly twenty minutes of conversation, the Commander was able to step away from the now-deactivated terminal. Sam almost immediately stiffened when she realized that the Commander was coming towards _her_.

"Specialist Traynor…" Shepard began, stepping over to the Specialist.

"Y-Yes Commander?" Sam asked, catching her stutter at the last second. Sam was now notably shorter than the Commander, the armor giving the redhead at least four more inches of height. The black-plated armor whirred slightly as Shepard moved about, the servos of the exoskeleton predicting her movements for her.

"As you probably heard, I'll be on the ground for the initial invasion." Shepard said, earning a rather quick and timid nod from Sam. "I'm going to need someone to coordinate communications for my team, and to keep us updated on the situation groundside."

"Of course, Commander." Sam responded, nodding. "I'll be ready when you need me."

"Thank you, Specialist." Shepard responded, giving the smallest of smirks to accompany her nod. "Patch into my suit's QEC signature when you get the chance. I'll be on-ship until the invasion begins."

"Aye, Commander." Traynor said, saluting.

"Commander!" Joker shouted from the bridge, catching Shepard's attention. "Fleet's five minutes out!"

"Pull back to the rendezvous point on RCS." Shepard ordered. "I'd rather not be caught in _Imperator's_ cross-fire."

"Aye, ma'am!" Joker shouted in return as the _Normandy_ turned tail and began silently moving towards a pre-determined point, just outside the effective range of Palaven's defense grid.

As the ship began creeping towards the Jump Destination, Shepard stepped up to the elevated ramp of the Galaxy Map, speaking to the crew of the entire vessel through an intercom system. "Alright everyone… this is it." She began, her voice carrying an air of confidence that made Sam's chest swell with a strange sense of pride. "This is what we've been building towards for the past thousand years. This is where Humanity takes its rightful place in this universe. You were all hand-picked by Admiral Hackett to serve on this ship, and you've all exceeded my expectations. Without all of you, we would not be here today. You are all the best Humanity has to offer, and it's time we showed these aliens that we are _not_ a species to be stepped on!" The entirety of the CIC broke into a restrained cheer, earning a small smirk from Shepard. "Alright… that's what I like to hear." She glanced to the Galaxy Map, seeing that the Fleet was a mere few seconds out. "General Quarters, General Quarters! All hands, man your stations immediately!" She declared, sending the entire CIC back into action.

XXXXX

Around _Normandy_ , three hundred UHE Warships slipped back into real-space. 40 Battlecruisers formed the front of the formation, with 120 Heavy Cruisers resting behind them. Smaller Destroyers fell in behind the Cruisers, with Carriers taking up positions near the center of the fleet's formation.

Spread out among the fleet was a group of 30 Wyvern-Class Frigates, each of them carrying a similar armament to the _Normandy_. The main difference between the warships and the stealth ship was the slightly more angled appearance of the Frigates, along with their much wider array of Blitzer-II CIWS mounts.

A mere moment after the entirety of the fleet disengaged their Void Drives, a massive pulse of negative energy reverberated throughout the formation, signaling the arrival of _Imperator_. The massive Super-Dreadnought, coming in at fourteen kilometers in length, completely dwarfed the smaller ships in the UHE fleet. Its massive array of weapons, from Inferno nuclear launch tubes to the spinal-mounted Gallium Ion Cannon, gave it more firepower than most fleets. Hundreds of Falcons swarmed from the _Imperator's_ many hangers, coming into formation in front of the fleet. Small defensive drones began disembarking from their docking ports on the plating of the dreadnought, beginning to form around it. While the _Imperator_ had the most powerful shields of any UHE warship, it was considered a massive target for missile attacks due to its size. To compensate for this, defensive drones were developed especially for this vessel in particular. They function in a mix of an escort fighter and mobile CIWS roles, capable of limited offensive operations as well. The drones are scarcely more than gun platforms with thrusters strapped to them, practically covered in Blitzer-II Coilgun CIWS.

The UHE Fleet, to the Turians, seemed to stare at them for hours on end. In reality, the ten seconds between the fleet dropping out of Warp, followed by _Imperator,_ was taken up by the fleet gathering targeting solutions. The instant _Imperator_ was prepared, it had scarcely been more than a minute. The Turians tried, in vain, to hail the Human fleet.

In a single, history-defining moment, Admiral Hackett gave the General Order to fire at will.

A massive Alpha-Strike of Inferno nuclear missiles, smaller ship-to-ship missiles, Plasma Lances, Long and Short-Pulse Ion Cannons, and _Imperator's_ massive spinal-mounted armament fired off. The missiles, nuclear or otherwise, were directed in a massive swarm, thousands strong. Groups of missiles were directed towards the Turian orbital defense platforms. The defending Turian fleet managed to take down a fair few with GARDIAN Defense Systems, but the sheer volume of missiles being directed at them proved too great. Dozens of small flashes were visible against the otherwise black void of space as Turian ODPs went up.

The Plasma Lances and Ion Beams were directed towards the distant Turian fleet, which outnumbered the Human fleet by about 100 vessels. Many of the smaller Turian vessels, such as corvettes or frigates, were easily dispatched by the searing heat of plasma. The larger Turian vessels like the Cruisers or Dreadnoughts fared far better against the attack. Of the thirty dreadnoughts in the system, only one of them took any significant damage. A very large portion of the frigates were destroyed, however

The Falcons gunned their engines, quickly accelerating to meet the Turian fighter screen that was surrounding the defending fleet. The faster Falcons, while outnumbered, used their speed advantage rather well. Many pilots simply engaged the Turians with their guided missiles, with some of the more experienced pilots choosing to attack the fighters with their Short-Pulse Plasma Lances.

Specialized variants of the Falcon, carrying a low-emissions engine system and laser-jamming stealth coating, converged on Menae. The "Ghost Falcons" as they were called began speeding towards the moon, blasting through the defending Turian fighters at high-speeds. They made use of their stealthier nature to move past the static defenses rather easily, and deployed their nuclear arsenal against the small moon. When the Ghost Falcons were forced to bleed speed to make a maneuver away, some of the Turian fighters were able to swat a few from space. Fifteen of the forty fighters were destroyed, while the rest re-engaged their engines to their War Emergency Power settings and left the Turians in the dust. The fired nuclear weapons all impacted on specific targets around Menae, with some of them being shot down by on-moon defenses. The ones that did hit all found their marks on Turian fighter airfields, ground bases, and refueling points. The presence of an artificial atmosphere on Menae proved to be its downfall, as the nuclear fire scorched its surface and rendered many of its bases ash.

As the dogfights happened around them, the Turian fleet began firing on the UHE fleet. They, naturally, focused most of their fire on _Imperator_. The massively thick shielding on the Human Dreadnought was able to take the incoming volley, but not without losing a fair bit of integrity. The Turian Thanix Cannons were capable of dealing a fair bit of damage, even against the powerful shields of the vessel. A few of the Turian vessels chose to begin engaging the Battlecruisers or Frigates.

The smaller Wyvern Frigates were able to take a single round from a Turian cannon before their shields buckled, and six were simply obliterated as the Thanix round slammed into the thin, unshielded armor of the frigates. The shielding of a single UHE Battlecruiser buckled under the volume of fire, taking some structural damage from the incoming volley, but remained mostly-operational.

The Turian Orbital Defense platforms proved to be the downfall of another 5 Wyvern Frigates, obliterating them with a few well-aimed Thanix rounds. The fleet engagement carried on for another thirty minutes, with the opposing fleets exchanging volleys of fire. The UHE fleet took notably less casualties than the Turian fleet, but were not without losses. All except 5 of the Wyvern Frigates were destroyed, along with 5 Heavy Cruisers and 1 Battlecruiser. Two Destroyers were crippled, and 3 Carriers suffered minor damage to their bow armor, with one having its engines crippled by an over-penetrating Thanix Cannon. 125 Fighters were also downed, unable to escape their more maneuverable Turian counterparts in close-proximity dogfights.

The Turian fleet, on the other hand, was utterly annihilated. Vented hulls of Turian Dreadnoughts and Cruisers surrounded the gravity wells of Palaven and Menae, with hundreds of life pods drifting about around the wrecks. The Human vessels, with little care, simply gunned their engines and began converging on the Turian Homeworld.

Once they neared the planet, finishing their high-intensity scanning of the surface, the forward Battlecruisers fired their Plasma Lances towards the surface, aiming to obliterate Turian ground bases. The rear-most Carriers, designated as the fleet's Assault Carriers, dispatched a veritable swarm of Stalwart Super-Heavy Dropships, which quickly began converging on the planet's surface under Falcon escort. The Heavy Cruisers deployed Atmospheric Entry Pods, each once containing a small group of five Marines. There were several hundred pods. The Normandy dispatched a single dropship, which fell in with the rest as the Humans descended on Palaven.

XXXXX

Shepard jolted slightly as the dropship lurched, slamming into Palaven's atmosphere. The occasional explosion could be heard as the telltale signs of ground fire were attempting to take down the descending dropships. Her HUD was buzzing with activity as Traynor's rather impressive technical skills kept her updated on the invasion's progress, with minimal time lag to boot.

The roar of the dropship's four engines nearly drowned out Shepard's own thoughts as her mind raced, reading through the tactical data. Their drop group was set to descend on the capital, Cipiritine, where the heaviest fighting would undoubtedly be taking place, and where their prize awaited.

The dropship jolted one final time as it set down on the surface of Palaven, the rear door opening wide to allow the four N7 Operatives and 16 Marines to storm out of the vessel. Shepard stepped into a truly brutalized battlefield, with dozens of Falcons blasting by overhead, providing cover for the initial landing forces. There were dozens of dropships, some offloading Marines, others offloading massive Stryker-IV Main Battle Tanks or M5 Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

Shepard looked around, finding that the dropships had landed in the scorched remains of a Turian military base on the outskirts of their capital. The planet itself was incredibly humid, with near-constant rainfall and higher background radiation. The Humans came prepared, however, packing their standard radiation-protective armor that featured some measure of climate control. The dense vegetation surrounding their position obviously concealed Turians, as there were Marines and IFVs firing into the treeline, the occasional round being fired back.

As the cacophony of war sounded off around the N7 team, a platoon of UHE Marines, their powered armor painted a dark black with red accent pieces on the shoulder plates, pushed up behind an advancing tank, which was firing off its main 145mm Hypervelocity Coilgun at anything before it. The notably stronger energy shields that Human Marines carried with them gave them slightly more protection than the average Turian, but the sheer volume of Turian return fire was leaving quite a few dead or wounded Marines.

Shepard motioned with her hand as she took off in a sprint towards the advancing Marines, firing a controlled burst out of her Coilgun. Her team followed close behind as she fell into step alongside the advancing company of Marines. The sound of the Stryker's chain-fed autocannon firing off reverberated throughout the area as Turians and trees were cut down in the hail of gunfire.

The fighting was bogged down for a few moments, but the lines were broken as a Falcon buzzed the Turian lines with its short-pulse Plasma Lances. As the Turian lines crumbled under the combined arms assault of the UHE, the Human line blitzed forward, into the capital of Palaven, where orbital fire was raining down.

The fighting to breach the city's walls was horrendous, with the dug-in Turians giving the advancing Humans their all. The Turian's lack of heavily armored fighting vehicles proved to be a hindrance, as the Stryker was easily able to blast a MAKO in half with its main gun. The MAKO proved rather effective against the UHE infantry, however, given its massive rate of fire and larger mass accelerator in a turret mount.

Fighting had spread all across Palaven, and Cipiritine was no different. There were divisions of UHE Marines and Army Mechanized Infantry converging on the city from all angles. Some luckier divisions had already managed to punch a hole into the city's defenses, and had begun fanning out into the large Turian metropolis. The Codex's description of Palaven didn't exactly do it justice. Much of the planet's architecture appeared to be made of silver, which gleamed against the refracting light broken up by the lightly falling rain. Much of that silver was blotted by smoke and fire.

One of the taller structures in Cipritine received a Coilgun round from an orbital strike, which speared directly through the rough and caused the glassy covering to splinter out in all directions, eventually causing the massive skyscraper to collapse in on itself. The distraction allowed the UHE Marines to press their advantage, breaching a hole in the city's defensive line.

Shepard sent a burst of communications to her team, notifying them that it was time to break off. The squad of four N7 Operatives broke off from the advancing UHE lines, heading deeper into the Turian city with their optical camouflage modules active. They stuck to the shadows as they moved, the smoke from collapsing buildings and airstrikes obscuring their already faint shimmering as they moved. The city was obviously mid-evacuation when the UHE began landing, seeing as there were civilians running for cover in buildings and in alleyways. Turian soldiers were directing them away from the fighting, which led them closer to the city's center. The passing Falcon fighter aircraft didn't seem to care that there were civilians in the midst of the Turian soldiers that were moving to regroup at the secondary defensive line. The N7 Team covered a great distance incredibly quickly, sticking out of sight of the defenders.

As the N7 neared their objective, close to the city's central square, the defenses became denser and denser. Getting through them required far more finesse than Shepard had originally expected, prompting her to motion to Lawson, her figure outlined in green on her HUD. Lawson offered a gesture of acknowledgement, then moved forward on the Turian soldiers that were attempting to organize something resembling a cohesive defense amidst the terrified civilians. Most of the civilians were being directed into underground transport tunnels of some kind, with some of the more able-bodied taking up arms to assist in the defense.

Lawson crept towards the defenses, using the shadows provided by the tall buildings and swelling smoke to her advantage. She ducked behind a building, ensuring that she was out of sight. When she was assured to be safely out of the way, she began scaling the side of the comparatively smaller building with the assistance of her armor. Upon reaching the top, she slid into cover behind a set of tubing near the edge of the building that faced the defended square. She had a clear line of sight on the Turian government building, as well as the entirety of the square.

She removed her Coilgun from its magnetic strip on her back, pressing the activation switch on the side of the weapon's receiver. The weapon, upon her command, extended to form a long-barreled rifle. She produced an 18x optical smart-link scope from her armor's carrier rig and attached it to the rail on the rifle's upper. She activated the scope, which linked in with the rest of her team's HUDs. She scanned over important-looking Turian soldiers, marking them with her scope, and sending their location to the other connected HUDs. Four officers among the Turians found themselves unknowingly marked, along with a few Turian guards near the front of the defenses, nearest the hidden operatives. "Commander, hostiles marked." Lawson said into her communicator.

"Copy, do you have visual on the target?" Shepard asked.

"Negative, Commander." Lawson responded, scanning over the Turian capital building again. "No sign of anyone leaving. It's likely that the Primarch has already evacuated."

"Fuck…" Shepard responded. "He's gotta be on the planet somewhere, there's no way he could've gotten off-world without being taken down."

"Orders?" Ashley asked, tensely gripping her rifle as she waited for Shepard's response.

"Pull back to the city and regroup with the offensive." Shepard responded. "Our Primarch will turn up soon enough."

XXXXX

"How can this be happening?!" Sparatus demanded, pacing back and forth in the Council's conference room. A slightly flickering hologram of Primarch Fedorian joined the Councilors.

"I told you that such brash military action would inevitably lead to conflict!" Tevos responded.

"These… _animals_ are burning Palaven to the ground, and you're reprimanding me?!" Sparatus threw his hands up in exasperation. "The _entire_ fleet surrounding Palaven fell in under an hour! I'm hearing reports of ships several dreadnoughts in length and firing beams of plasma! How is that even possible?!"

"Actually…" Fedorian interrupted, causing the Turian Councilor to wheel around to face his holographic representation. "They seem to be avoiding civilians for the most part."

"What?" Sparatus asked.

"Their forces seem to be disregarding civilians unless they resist. I don't think that their intent is to kill us, but to remove our ability to fight."

"STG is reporting similar cases on Mannovai and Lusia." Mesu responded, nodding. "That's not to say civilians are not suffering, but it appears to be rather minimal, given the sheer amount of invasions taking place."

"Then why is the death toll for Palaven so catastrophic?" Sparatus demanded.

"The Turian populace is almost entirely made up of former or current soldiers." Fedorian interjected. "Of course more are going to resist, it's a simple fact of the matter."

"So you're proposing we surrender?" Sparatus asked.

"Of course not." Fedorian replied. "I'm proposing diplomacy."

"It's quite clear that these 'Humans' have a far superior naval force." Tevos explained. "The _only_ place our forces stand a chance is on the ground, and they've shown that they are quite capable with orbital bombardment. Unless we have orbital superiority, our ground forces are at the mercy of the Human navy."

"We are at a grave disadvantage." Mesu agreed. "STG has yet to obtain any working samples of their technology. We cannot even begin to understand how they _power_ their vessels and weapons. Directed energy weapons like their own would consume an immense amount of power, far beyond what any conventional power plant is capable of."

"For the Goddess' sake, their reactor signature registered as a gravitational anomaly!" Tevos said, her voice raising to accent just how incredible that is. "Not to mention the fact that they're employing weapons well beyond our own. They have tracked vehicles that can take several dozen direct hits from a MAKO cannon!"

"Okay…" Sparatus said, taking a deep breath to compose himself. "Even if diplomacy were an option, how do you propose we go about it? Just send a diplomatic vessel at their lines and pray that it doesn't get obliterated?! You heard their Admiral, Tevos! To them, there is no diplomatic solution!"

Tevos sighed, looking between the Councilors and the Primarch. "So there really is no other option?"

"We have to fight." Sparatus said, his voice leveling out and sounding almost… afraid. "It's the only option we have."

"Palaven's already lost." Fedorian said. "Redirect the fleets to defend Inner Council Space. We'll stand a chance if we use our numerical advantage properly."

Before the Primarch could continue, the sound of gunfire could be heard from his end of the communication. The holographic representation wheeled to face away from the Councilors, attempting to draw a concealed handgun and point it towards an unseen enemy. The entire conference froze in stupefaction, watching as the Primarch fired off a single shot.

In an instant, the Primarch's wrist was grappled as he attempted to strike with his talons, a Human in jet black armor with glowing red eyepieces stepping into the holographic transmitter's range. The Primarch's arm was wrenched downwards and away, the sheer force of the move sending the Turian to the floor. The armored figure stepped over the Primarch, wrenching the hand back and holding it at a very uncomfortable, if not painful, angle. The pistol was kicked aside as the blur that was the Human in armor stepped on the Primarch's other wrist, keeping him pinned to the ground.

A mere instant after the gunfire began, it ended. Once the Primarch was well and truly at the mercy of the Human standing over him, three more stepped into range of the transmitter, keeping their alien-looking rifles pointed down at him. As the Councilors watched the Humans surround the prone Primarch, they all froze when the one pinning Fedorian began speaking, its feminine voice surprising the Councilors. "Notify Admiral Hackett that we have our target." The leader turned her head to look directly at the projection of the Councilor, her red eye covers seeming to bore holes through their very beings. "We have what we need."

XXXXX

Shepard scoffed as she looked at the holographic representations of the three Councilors, caught like a deer in headlights as she stepped on her target's wrist. "Lawson, kill that transmission."

Lawson opened her UHE-issued Datatool, immediately connecting into the loud communications terminal and overriding its control. She shut the transmission down from her end, causing the holograms to flicker and fade away. Shepard hefted the Primarch to his feet, wrenching his other hand behind his back. She held his wrists together as she bound them with Mag-Lock restraints. "Primarch Fedorian, you are now a prisoner of the United Human Empire."

Naturally, the Turian didn't respond. Shepard sighed as she led the Primarch towards the kicked-in door that her team used for entry. On the other side stood a veritable company of Death Corps Infantry, accompanied by their Puma IFVs. The small evacuation point on the edge of Cipiritine was completely surrounded by UHE forces. The Primarch froze up, seeing the sheer number of UHE forces standing in a defensive position around the area. Shepard connected to the UHE Communications Grid. "Admiral Hackett, HVT Secured, requesting immediate pickup at my current position."

 **Codex Updated:**

 **Stryker-IV: The Main Battle Tank of the UHE's arsenal. It features a 145mm smoothbore coilgun-assisted main cannon, as well as a coaxial 20mm autocannon. The tank's heavily sloped titanium alloy armor, coupled with its onboard shield generator, provides it with a great deal of protection against both small arms and vehicle-mounted weaponry.**

 **M5 Infantry Fighting Vehicle: One of the most iconic vehicles of the UHE Ground Force's arsenal, the M5 is a hybrid between an armored personnel carrier and an infantry fighting vehicle. It features a 40mm autocannon, two .50 caliber heavy machine coilguns in a coaxial mount, and an onboard shield generator. Each M5 is capable of carrying ten soldiers in its rear, and is often used in both light reconnaissance and front-line attack roles.**

 **"** **Ghost" Falcon: A stealth variant of the UFE-223 Falcon Multirole Fighter Aircraft, designed to emit minimal heat while retaining the speed and maneuverability of its louder counterpart. These aircraft are often used in flanking maneuvers during fleet engagements, or to provide close air support for ground forces.**

 **Stalwart Super-Heavy Dropship: A massive carrier-borne dropship, designed to carry 20 UHE soldiers, as well as a single main battle tank or two smaller vehicles. They are used as invasion logistics vehicles, delivering reinforcements, ammunition, and supplies to the front lines. They are given a minimal armament of 30mm cannons and heavier shield generators, but are otherwise slow and often require escort in order to survive atmospheric entry.**

 **Atmospheric Entry Pods: The main method of planetary insertion for the UHE Marine Corps and Human special forces. These pods, designed to fit up to five individual combatants, are deployed from the ventral side of Heavy Cruisers and Carriers. The tactic, often referred to as a "Deep Strike" allows for the quick deployment of forces, but it is highly dangerous. The pods, while quick, are still susceptible to ground-based anti-air fire.**

 **UHE Datatool: A wrist-mounted computer system designed to interface with all manner of UHE equipment. Often linking into a soldier's armor, or Neural Implant in the case of the UHE's special forces, it is capable of limited cyberwarfare in the proper hands. In truly experienced hands, it is capable of directly interfacing with almost any piece of technology that emits a signal, able to piggyback off of the emitted signal. Every member of the UHE's military is issued a Datatool.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Citadel

**Chapter 5: The Citadel**

Shepard walked through the now-occupied streets of Cipritine, the heavy fighting having died down weeks ago. Human forces had already reduced the defenses on Palaven to almost nil, effectively crippling the planet's ability to resist. Unsurprisingly, the Turian population had come to resent the human occupiers, but resistance was quite few and far between. A convoy of M5 IFVs rolled by, each one sporting a Marine sitting at the MG turret on the top of the turret. They kept their MGs pointed towards the turret's upper armor, and away from the civilians that were walking the streets of Cipritine.

Annalise's patrol had taken her into one of the more high-end areas of Cipritine, where many government officials or upper-class members of Turian society lived. The streets were lined with villas and estates. A few Turians walked the streets, many of them avoiding the Human soldiers like the plague.

Annalise's thoughts were overtaken by the sight out of the corner of her eye. A pair of UHE Marines were standing in front of a hole in the side of a Turian estate, obviously created by a striking tank shell. The standing order was not to interact with the locals unless absolutely necessary, creating a bit of concern for the N7 Operative. She motioned for her fireteam to continue on, transferring temporary command of the squad to Lawson. Once they had set off, Shepard made her way towards the two Marines.

As she neared, she could make out the middle of a rather one-sided conversation. "What a disgusting fucking creature…" One of the two Marines commented, gesturing into the hole in the wall.

"How does it feel to have your world scorched, you lizard freak?" The other Marine asked, not even attempting to mask his disgust.

Shepard walked behind the two Marines, her light step leaving the two unaware of her presence. She saw a pair of Turians on the ground before the two Marines, the fear they felt quite evident in their body language, even despite their lack of more intricate facial expressions. From what she could see, the inside of the building was absolutely trashed, with broken glass scattered across the floor, overturned furniture, and splintered doors. Of the three Turians, one had a shorter fringe and smaller carapace on their face, indicative of a female of the species. The female was young, probably no more than sixteen by Human standards. The older Turian was an obvious male, and if Shepard had to guess, was the father of the younger one. The younger female had a rather obvious black imprint on her face, looking suspiciously like the underside of a UHE Marine combat boot.

Shepard's attention was caught by the younger Turian, who was looking up at the Human operative. She could swear that the girl's eyes were pleading for help. Shepard sighed internally, standing straighter than normal. She cleared her throat loudly, causing both Marines to wheel around to face her, immediately standing in a crisp salute when they saw the rank on the N7 Operative's armor. "Commander!" A Marine, a Lance Corporal, said.

For the first time in her career as an officer, Shepard didn't wave the salute off. "Might I ask what you two are doing?" She asked, regarding the two Marines from behind her helmet. "Is there a specific reason you're attacking these Turians?"

The other Marine, a Private First Class, spoke. "Uh… they're Turians, ma'am."

"Thank you for the biology lesson, Private." Shepard said, sarcasm practically dripping from her words. "Now get the hell out of here, report to your superior officer immediately."

"Are… you defending these aliens, ma'am?" The Lance Corporal asked.

"If keeping two idiotic enlisted men who apparently decided to disregard Admiral Hackett's orders is 'defending' these aliens, then yes." Shepard said, her stern voice never faltering. "Report to your posts immediately, or I'll have the both of you court martialed."

"Yes, Ma'am!" They said in unison, dropping their salute and jogging off towards the street.

Shepard shook her head, sighing. She looked down to the pair of Turians, who were still trembling, seeing a Human in black power armor standing over them. Shepard saw the pleading eyes again, and felt a momentary sensation of guilt well up in her chest. When she moved slightly, both Turians tensed up, obviously still startled. It was about now that Shepard realized that her translator suite was still inactive, meaning the two Turians didn't understand a word of that conversation she had with the Marines.

Shepard fiddled with her Datatool for a moment, activating the translator, and put her hands out in a neutral gesture. "You're okay…" She began, moving deliberately and slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The two seemed surprised as they actually understood the Human before them, both of them looking to her in awe. "Who are you?" The older male asked, shielding his daughter.

"Commander Shepard of the United Human Imperial Navy, Special Operations force." Shepard responded, dropping to a kneel and removing her helmet, trusting her energy shields to keep out the harmful background radiation. "You?"

The Turians actually seemed surprised to see the face of a Human soldier, much less an obvious female of the species who appeared so young. The Asari-like features of the soldier before them surprised the Turians, and actually helped them understand her expression. It was not one of malice, but rather one of neutrality. The older male was the first to speak up. "Valein Vakarian…" He said, giving a curt nod. "And this is Solana, my daughter."

Shepard gave a small smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry about those idiots, we've been explicitly ordered not to interact with locals unless absolutely necessary."

"Then why are you here?" Valein asked, his voice coming across as slightly accusatory.

"You would've done the same in our shoes." Shepard responded, sighing. "It's hard for a people to forget about having their world burned, their people killed, and then left to rot in radioactive, diseased craters."

"Then what are you doing here?" Solana asked, her voice carrying more curiosity.

"Occupying the larger settlements here until a peace agreement is signed between the Council and the UHE." Shepard explained. "If we wanted your world glassed, it would've been done without an invasion."

"So you're conquering us?" Solana asked.

"No." Shepard corrected. "Once the war is over, Palaven will be completely abandoned by UHE forces."

Before Shepard could continue, her Datatool beeped rather loudly, drawing her attention. She opened up the communication with Lawson. "Go ahead, Lawson."

"Commander, Admiral Hackett's requesting our redeployment." Lawson said. "We're to report back to _Normandy_ immediately."

"Understood. Did he say where we're going?"

"Apparently, we're going to the Citadel." Lawson responded, earning a raised eyebrow from the Commander.

"Alright, regroup at the FOB in Cipritine's central square." Shepard said, earning a hum of acknowledgement from Lawson as she severed the communication. She turned back to the Turians, who had wide-eyed expressions on their faces. She mentally kicked herself for not deactivating her translator. "Will the two of you be alright?"

"Yes, I think we'll manage." Valein said, nodding. He seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Thank you, Human… for helping us." Shepard nodded, standing upright and pulling her helmet back over her head. "And Shepard?" Valein asked, catching the Commander's attention just as she turned to walk away. "I have no doubt that we would've done the same in your position… I'm just sorry that your species encountered us as it did."

"So am I." Shepard said, turning to leave.

XXXXX

Annalise stood in the _Normandy_ 's Primary QEC, a hologram of Admiral Hackett speaking to her. "Commander, we're moving on the Citadel, and I need the _Normandy_ joining the fleet."

"Is there a reason a stealth ship is joining an assault fleet?" Annalise asked.

"We're hoping to crush the Citadel's defense fleet and force a surrender." Hackett explained. "We haven't been expecting such stiff resistance from the Council, not after our initial engagement. The fleet at Palaven was lucky, they weren't expecting us so soon. The other fleets faced far greater numbers, and the 3rd Fleet at Thessia was almost completely destroyed. Stratton wants to bring a quicker end to this war, and there's no better way to go about that than taking the Citadel."

"Understandable." Annalise said, nodding. "You want us running recon?"

"Indeed." Hackett responded. "Make a low-power jump to the Widow Nebula and forward all defensive data to me immediately."

"Aye, Admiral." Annalise said, snapping into a salute, which Hackett returned.

"Good luck, Shepard."

XXXXX

Samantha quietly worked on the War Room's tactical uplink from underneath a terminal, working to set up the wiring in a more streamlined way. She could hear the faint conversation between the Commander and Admiral Hackett, occasionally picking out small snippets like "Citadel, stiff resistance," and "Force a surrender". Hearing that they were going to be attacking the main Council system did little to ease the tension that the Specialist had been feeling after reading over all of the war reports. Humanity was winning, but the fighting was locked in a near-unbreakable stalemate. The lines moved by mere kilometers on-world, and the fleets were unable to break the lines as they pushed. Extended, bogged-down fighting was not in the UHE doctrine, and the war effort was suffering for it.

Samantha pulled herself up from her position underneath the console, surprising to find the Commander leaning over the central holographic projection table in the War Room, looking exhausted as she held her eyes closed. Sam couldn't quite tell her mouth to stay shut before her consciousness started streaming. "Commander… you should get some rest. You've been going non-stop since the invasion."

Much to Samantha's surprise, Shepard didn't reprimand her or glare at her, she simply kept her eyes closed as a small smile crossed her face. "That sounds vaguely like an order, Traynor."

Sam moved to the other side of the War Room, now standing a few feet away from Shepard. She couldn't quite stop her eyes from wandering to the redhead's rather… impressive assets. "Consider it some advice from someone with a…" _Damn this woman and that wonderful ass…_ "vested interest in your success, Commander."

Shepard let out a soft sigh, blowing some hair from her face. "I guess forty winks couldn't hurt." Sam quickly averted her gaze from her superior's rear end as she stood upright, looking at the Specialist. _Good lord, those eyes…_ Sam thought to herself. "But the first sign of any trouble, or a call from Admiral Hackett, and I want to know immediately."

"Yes, Commander." Sam responded, nodding. With that, Annalise gave Samantha a small smile as she made her way out of the War Room.

XXXXX

Annalise awoke slowly, her rather short five hour rest giving her more than enough energy to function. She looked around her quarters, which took up all of Deck 1. She still had yet to understand why an _aquarium_ of all things was necessary for a Captain's Cabin, but she chose not to question it.

Her quarters more closely resembled a small apartment than a military quarters. There was a small L-couch beneath the elevated workstation. There was a small display case spanning the wall that separated the desk, bathroom, and entryway from the sleeping area. There was a small closet containing her uniforms, gel-layered jumpsuits, some civilian clothes, and the pieces of her armor.

Annalise shook her head slightly, pushing away the last remnants of sleep as she stood upright. She walked over towards the small closet, grabbing a black shirt from its folded position on a shelf, and pulled it over her head. She pulled a pair of black BDU pants up over her waist, tucking the shirt in. She haphazardly ran a hand through her hair, straightening out her red hair as she made her way up the small staircase and towards the desk.

She read through the notifications on her personal terminal, seeing nothing of note, and made her way towards the door to the deck after pulling a pair of boots over her feet. She quickly descended the elevator, which stopped at Deck 2, the CIC.

She saw the CIC quietly humming in activity, with the familiar Comms Specialist standing over her terminal, engrossed in her work. The blips on the Galaxy Map had changed over the past few weeks, with the Human Fleets slowly encroaching on Inner Council Space. The more minor Council races had remained out of the fighting for the most part, with some of them downright declaring neutrality when they saw the levels of destruction that the Humans brought with them. Strangely enough, the Batarians in specific had been eerily silent during the entirety of the war. They were deemed too small of a threat to warrant the deployment of a scout fleet.

"Hello, Commander." Samantha said, pulling Shepard back into reality.

"Specialist." Annalise acknowledged, nodding.

"Admiring the Galaxy Map?" Sam asked, a small smile on her face. "You wouldn't believe the amount of strategy games that are built from that same interface."

Annalise smiled a bit, hearing the Specialist talk about something so casual. "You play strategy games, Traynor?" Annalise leaned against the railing of the Galaxy Map, staying on the same elevation as Sam, who had turned her head to look to the redhead.

"A few…" Sam responded, pressing a few keys, then letting the algorithm she had coded do its work. "Most are too flashy for me, though. I prefer chess."

"A chess player, hmm?" Annalise said, smiling.

Sam nodded, smiling. "I actually have a set made from rose quartz and hematite back home. Way better than those holographic GUI interfaces. I prefer the feeling of something solid in my hands."

"An old soul?" Annalise asked, smirking.

Sam chuckled at the Commander's words. "I guess so."

"Well, now that I know your weakness, we might have to try a game." Annalise said, drumming her fingers along the metallic surface of the railing.

"Well, it would certainly be better than playing the AI." Sam said, referencing the ship's resident artificial intelligence, EDI. "EDI doesn't sweat." It was at this exact moment that Sam realized just how wrong her choice of words were. She felt a small blush creeping up her cheeks as she saw the cocked eyebrow from the Commander.

"You sweat playing chess?" Annalise asked, an amused smile on her face.

"Depends on how much fun we're having." Sam full-on blushed at her own poor choice of words. _I just accidentally flirted with my commanding officer…_ Sam thought, mentally kicking herself. _I really am hopeless… I need a girlfriend_.

Annalise simply chuckled, seeing the embarrassed look on Sam's face. "Well, we're still a day out from the Citadel, what do you say to a quick game?"

Sam perked up, pushing the blush away. "O-oh… like, right now?"

"Sure, your automatic algorithm looks to be handling itself rather well." Annalise said, gesturing to the terminal's screen. "And I think EDI can handle the data feeds for a few hours."

"Sure thing… I have a client on my Datatool we can use." Sam said, smiling.

Annalise smiled, nodding towards the elevator. Sam quickly transferred control over the data feeds to EDI, and followed behind the Commander.

After a short elevator ride, Samantha was greeted by the small entryway to the normally-restricted Captain's Cabin. Normally, this deck was completely restricted to the Commander and linked to her biometrics. As far as Sam was aware, this was the first time anyone else had been to Shepard's cabin. The door automatically opened, revealing the inside of the Captain's Quarters.

Sam stepped through, and was completely floored.

"Good lord…" Sam said, completely forgoing the normal professionalism. "Your cabin is absolutely gorgeous. My apartment back on Horizon was smaller than this." Sam's gaze shifted to the left-most wall. "Wait… why do you have an aquarium?"

"I honestly have no idea…" Annalise responded. "I don't even know what to do with it."

Shepard smiled as she watched Sam stroll around the entry area of the cabin, seeing the open door of the bathroom. "Oh my…" Sam said. "You have an actual bathroom." Sam scoffed. "The faucets in the women's room are crap, by the way."

Shepard smiled, seeing the English-accented woman ramble a bit. "I wouldn't know."

"Oh…" Sam said, blushing as she remembered the actual reason she was up in her commanding officer's quarters. "Ready to play?"

"You sure you don't want to look in my closet too?" Shepard asked, a small smirk on her face as she let her snarkier side out.

"I'll leave that to the imagination, Commander." Samantha said, smiling with a slight blush. _I already know how wonderful you make our uniforms look. Especially that tight black shirt clinging to those-_

"Coming, Specialist?" Shepard called, shaking the Specialist out of her stupor.

Sam fully blushed, totally walking normally and not at all practically jogging down the stairs. She saw Shepard rather casually sitting on the end of a couch, her legs casually crossed. Traynor took a seat on the couch, further down the L-shape of the couch. She sheepishly pulled her Datatool from the small apparatus on her wrist, pressing a few buttons on the device and placing it on the coffee table. The Datatool projected a holographic image of a chessboard from a small holographic emitter, with all of the pieces lined up in their correct places. Whites faced Shepard, and the blacks faced Traynor. "Are you ready, Commander?"

"Ready to win." Shepard said with a small, smug smile on her face.

XXXXX

"Oh come on!" Annalise complained, having the last of her pawns, which was absolutely in a purely advantageous position, swiped by Traynor's knight.

"My word, Shepard." Traynor said, gloating slightly. "It's almost as if you want to spare your pawns the shame of living under my regime."

"Okay, that tactic totally would've worked in an actual battle." Annalise said, moving her bishop and putting Traynor's king in check.

"Yes, and battles don't take place on an eight by eight square grid, with certain units only able to move in certain patterns." Traynor said, quickly knocking the bishop over with her rook.

"You know what I mean…" Annalise said, moving her knight. "The pawns are like infantry, and the infantry has to support the armored units to keep them from getting flanked by enemy infantry."

"You certainly are using your immense tactical knowledge in a rather strange place, Commander." Sam commented, a small smile on her face. "Overanalyzing a centuries-old game that you're _losing_."

"Watch it, Samantha." Annalise warned, smirking slightly. "Remember who controls the sleep cycles on the _Normandy_."

Sam smiled. "You'd torture poor Miss Chambers just to get to me?"

"Don't underestimate me." Shepard said, winking slightly as she moved her queen in a last-ditch effort to checkmate Traynor.

"Believe me…" Traynor quickly captured Shepard's queen with a knight, locking her in a checkmate. "I didn't."

Shepard sighed, leaning back. "Well… shit."

Sam smirked, leaning back and crossing her legs. "Good game, Commander. You actually had me worried there for a few moves."

"Where'd you learn to play chess like that?" Shepard asked. "Not even Lawson's that good."

Sam smiled. "My dad taught me. We actually have a game going on through e-mail right now. He's something of a chess master. What about you?"

"I learned in school." Shepard answered.

"Were you in chess club?" Sam asked, smirking deviously.

Annalise actually laughed. "Not quite. I just decided to learn one day. I'm a nerd, not that much of a nerd."

"The great Commander Shepard, a nerd?" Sam asked. "How so?"

Shepard smiled. "You can just call me Annalise when we're not on duty, Sam."

"I can see you've already taken to calling me by my first name, Annalise." Sam said, smiling.

Annalise smiled. "And to answer your question… remember my comment on strategy games?"

"You play games?" Traynor asked, leaning forward. "Do tell…"

Annalise smirked. "Mostly strategy games, some simulators, even an RPG every now and again. Depends on what I'm feeling."

"Well… you learn something new about your commanding officer every day." Traynor commented.

Annalise leaned forward, flashing Traynor a small smile. "Like how she's really informal?"

"Well… that." Sam admitted, smiling. "You're not like any superior I've ever had before… no offense, of course."

Annalise grinned, pressing a few buttons on the holographic display to reset the chessboard. "Oh, I fully admit that I'm weird. How else do you think I made it through N7 without going crazy."

"What's it like?" Sam asked.

"N7 Project Training?" Annalise asked, earning a nod from the Specialist. "Well… it makes Hell seem appealing, to say the least. I remember Admiral Hackett had my generation dumped on a random, sparsely-populated garden world with nothing other than the clothes on our backs at nineteen years old and told us to, and I quote: 'figure it out'."

"What did you do?" Sam asked, intrigued by the redhead's story.

"Rallied all sixty of us, and we just kinda worked from there." Annalise explained, shrugging. "That's how they decided our specializations. Because I managed to rally almost everyone in a few weeks, I was set in a command specialization. Williams showed a knack for first aid and medicine, so they made her a combat lifesaver. Alenko held his own against a gang of thugs with nothing other than his hands, so they made him a Vanguard. Lawson showed an incredible pension for tech and sneaking around things, so they made her a Shadow."

"Wait…" Sam said, looking at her commander incredulously. "They dumped you on a random planet with no supplies and no objective _before_ you even had your role figured out?"

"Pretty much." Annalise said, nodding. "I'd be lying if I said everything went smoothly, because it didn't. I remember Lawson actually broke the planetary governor's son's nose because he hit on her." Sam allowed herself a small smile, never having actually met Lawson before. She had seen her, and certainly understood why she would've been a target for affection. Frankly, she wasn't Sam's type, too prim and prissy-looking. "But enough about that. How about another game?"

"You're on." Sam said, smiling as she leaned forward to move her first pawn forward two spaces.

XXXXX

Shepard stood just behind Joker's seat, her arms folded across her chest as she awaited the drop from FTL. Everything had to go perfectly. They were on their way to the enemy's home system, their most heavily-defended stronghold, and the seat of their government. The war could be won or lost here, all that needed to happen was for Humanity to play its cards right. They had superior firepower, there was no doubt about that, but the Council had the defender's advantage and sheer numbers. At best, if this wasn't executed absolutely perfectly, this would be a narrow victory for either Humanity or the Council. Those were odds that Shepard didn't like to work with.

"Powering down Void Drive." Joker said, snapping Shepard out of her inner musings.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched the small speck of a gravitational anomaly created in front of the vessel blink out of existence, allowing the ship to return to sub-light speeds. What she saw honestly surprised her.

The five-armed breadth of the Citadel was sitting in the middle of an admittedly gorgeous nebula, its arms held outwards by a central ring. There was a mass of civilian space traffic traversing the system, coming from the system's resident Mass Relay. Among the thousands of civilian spacecraft, rested the Citadel Defense Fleet.

Shepard saw the familiar silhouette of that ugly _Destiny Ascension,_ serving as the fleet's rather obvious flagship. Of all the things she wasn't expecting, she certainly wasn't expecting to see upwards of eighty Dreadnoughts, accompanied by a veritable _armada_. The entire fleet consisted of nearly one thousand vessels, most of them Cruisers or larger. In a toe-to-toe battle between equivalents, UHE warships beat their Council counterparts nearly one hundred percent of the time. With numbers like that, the odds were significantly changed, especially given the over-extended UHE Navy's current logistics situation that could be summed up in a single word: hell.

Joker let out an appreciative whistle. "Hot damn… I was not expecting that."

"Neither was command…" Shepard responded, opening a communication to Admiral Hackett, who answered after a mere moment.

"What do you have for me, Shepard?" Hackett asked.

"The Citadel's easily the most heavily defended asset they have." Shepard explained, forwarding their scanner data to Hackett. "Easily a thousand ships."

"If all goes well, we shouldn't even need to fight the Council here." Hackett said, his face remaining surprisingly neutral.

"What do you mean?"

"Chancellor Stratton… wants to open up diplomatic talks with the Council." Hackett explained.

"What? Already?" Shepard asked, surprised at the news.

"The war's only been going on for five months, and we're already spread too thin to continue pushing as hard as we are." Hackett sighed. "Frankly, our ships are superior in almost every way, we just don't have enough of them. The infantry forces are spread too thin, casualties are mounting, and the folks back home in the Imperial Legislature have been pressuring the Chancellor into at least _attempting_ peace talks."

"Fucking bureaucrats…" Joker muttered to himself, ignoring the slight glare that Shepard sent his way.

"As much as I may share your sentiment, Flight Lieutenant, Chancellor Stratton has made his decision." Hackett said, sounding somewhat irritated. "The fleet's two minutes out… Sit tight and wait for our arrival." With that, Hackett severed the QEC connection.

Shepard waited, those two minutes seeming like centuries as the tension mounted. After practically digging her fingers through the fabric of her uniform, upwards of two hundred much louder gravitational anomalies blinked into existence on the very edge of the system, just behind _Normandy_ 's current position. It was at this moment that the entire Citadel fleet's sensors lit up, scanning the area wildly. The Human fleet consisted of _Imperator_ as the flagship, with 100 Atlas-Classes, 60 Ares-Classes, 15 Petrovsky Carriers, 35 Strident-Classes, and 25 Wyvern-Classes.

The Council fleet began charging their weapons, but abruptly stopped when _Imperator_ sent out a general communications burst, its message simple. " _We come in peace._ "

XXXXX

Tevos, Sparatus, and Mesu all sat around the conference table in the Council Chambers, staring at the holographic projection of the Milky Way Galaxy. Try as they might, they could not discern any weakness in the Human defensive perimeter that had nearly split the galaxy in two. The lines had halted for nearly a month, creating a tangible tension in the air, wherever you were on the Citadel.

Sparatus sighed. "What can we do?! Haliat fell early in the war, crippling our ship-building capabilities!"

"The defensive strategy that we've employed seems to have slowed them, at the very least." Mesu commented, tapping a long finger against his chin. "It would appear that their military focuses on fast attacks, not long, drawn-out engagements. That's a weakness that we have certainly exploited, but I doubt it can last us."

"The Citadel's the next obvious target." Tevos said, sighing. "Even if we managed to push them back from Thessia, the Asari Fleets are already crippled beyond belief." She gestured to the tactical readout. "It's obvious that they're trying to encircle the Citadel, and it's definitely working."

Before any of the Councilors could continue on their discussion, an Asari maiden rushed into the conference room. "Councilors, they're here!" She shouted, causing Tevos to pale.

"How many?" Sparatus asked.

"Well over two hundred ships, and that massive super-dreadnought!" The maiden declared, a shaky fear evident in her speech.

"Spirits…" Sparatus muttered, knowing all too well what that massive behemoth of a vessel is capable of.

In a single, blinding twist of fate, Tevos' Omni-Tool received a communication from the Captain of _Destiny Ascension_. She quickly activated it, the Captain speaking to her in rapid-fire. "Councilors, the Human Dreadnought just sent a general comms burst!"

"What is it?" Tevos asked, a small, incredibly small feeling of hope welling up in her chest.

"Listen for yourselves." The Captain patched the repeating message through the communication, the translation VI present in Tevos' personal Omni-Tool making it understandable for all present.

" _We come in peace._ " Following the short, four word message, a series of numbers and letters were stated, obviously some form of contact frequency.

"Captain, order the fleet to hold their fire!" Tevos ordered, ignoring Sparatus' protests.

"Done, all weapons halting their charge." The Captain responded.

"Are you honestly going to answer them?! It's probably a trap!" Sparatus declared.

"What choice do we have?!" Tevos questioned, causing Sparatus to recoil as the Asari's voice rose well above his own. "They've got technology we could never hope to understand without decades, maybe centuries of research. Their ships are either equal in strength to ours, or better in every… single… way."

"What about-" Sparatus asked, finding himself cut off again.

"If you finish that sentence with 'Palaven', I swear by the Goddess' name I will toss you out an airlock!" Tevos shouted. "I won't let your stubborn Turian pride get in the way of the possibility of peace talks!"

Sparatus looked ready to continue arguing, but withered under the Asari's glare. "Fine… you can have your damned peace talks. Assuming they don't vaporize the damned Citadel instead."

"Thank you…" Tevos said, sighing. "Captain, patch the conference room's communicator through the _Destiny Ascension_ 's comms systems and hail that vessel on their frequency."

"Aye ma'am!" The Captain said, disappearing from her Omni-Tool's display.

The holographic projector in the center of the conference room lit up with the massive swarm of holographic particles, indicative of an outgoing hail. After a moment, the particles came to form a holographic representation of a human that Tevos had never seen before. He was fairly tall, wore a formal suit of some kind, had cleanly kept hair and a clean shaven face, and a strange aura of authority that could be felt through the hologram emitter itself. "Hello." He began, giving a small nod of the head in a gesture of acknowledgement. "I am Chancellor Haddock Stratton, Chancellor of the United Human Empire. I'm hoping to discuss a ceasefire."


	6. Chapter 6: Peace

**Chapter 6: Peace**

Tevos stood, stunned, not expecting the previously unknown Human Chancellor to be speaking to her so casually. "I must say…" Tevos began, causing the Human to look to her. "I wasn't expecting this."

"Contrary to how your media portrays us, we are not mindless animals." Stratton said, a grim smile on his face. "We were… forced to protect our independence."

"We did offer discussion when we first encountered you." Mesu said, narrowing his eyes at the Chancellor.

"You also offered discussion all those years ago, and look where that got the Human species." Stratton countered, shrugging. "War was inevitable, we would not have simply forgotten about a genocide that nearly drove us to extinction. It was only a matter of the level of destruction."

"What exactly happened that led to the Council of the time attacking your species?" Tevos asked.

"The United Nations Delegation that was assigned to open up diplomatic relations with the Citadel Council did not find their terms agreeable, so we declined." Stratton explained.

"What were their terms?" Sparatus asked.

"Damning Humanity to an existence of servitude to the Council, giving them free reign to violate our sovereignty and use us as cannon fodder." Stratton said, clasping his hands behind his back.

"You would not have been servants of the Council." Tevos said. "I don't believe your species understood our system of government at the time."

"Really?" Stratton asked, an amused smile on his face. "How long have the Volus and Elcor been awaiting a seat on the Council?" Stratton's smile widened as he saw the visible cringe from the Councilors. It was minute, but there nonetheless. "Humanity would have suffered the same fate, an eternity as one of your 'client races', damned to a life of servitude to alien masters, using my people for their own gain. Our culture and technology would have been forsaken for your own, cementing our place in your hierarchy."

"That's quite a bit of assumption." Mesu said. "Who's to say your species wouldn't have proven itself worthy of Council Status?"

"History." Stratton responded. "The Volus, Drell, Hanar, Krogan, Quarians, and Batarians have no representation on the Council. Some of those species don't even have membership to your… Spectres, are they?" Stratton waved his hand dismissively. "Nevermind that, that's all ancient history as far as I'm concerned. I'd prefer to get to the actual discussion about a peace treaty."

"Of course." Tevos said, being her normal diplomatic self. "Shall we begin?"

"I'd prefer to discuss this face-to-face." Stratton said. "I don't like the idea of discussing peace from a warship."

"I see no issue with a face-to-face discussion." Tevos said, nodding. She turned back to her Councilor compatriots, earning a nod from Mesu and an indifferent shrug from Sparatus. "Shall we meet here on the Citadel?"

"So long as I can bring a security detail, no more than four soldiers." Stratton said.

"Of course." Tevos said, agreeing with a nod. "I can have the Council's personal hanger opened for a transport."

"Excellent, I'll depart immediately." Stratton said, cutting the communication.

"Spirits…" Sparatus said, letting out a lengthy sigh. "They know far more than we thought."

"The sheer fact that he could rattle off so much information so quickly, without so much as a minor stutter, certainly interesting." Mesu commented. "Not to mention his… adept diplomatic skills."

"The not-so-thinly-veiled insults were certainly well-phrased." Sparatus agreed.

"They're a very interesting species…" Tevos wondered. "I wonder what would have happened, had contact been peaceful all those years ago."

XXXXX

To say that Shepard was surprised to have her team chosen as Chancellor Stratton's personal security detail aboard the Citadel was certainly an understatement. Her entire team sat at a very rigid attentive stance as the shuttle closed the distance between the UHE Fleet and the Citadel. "You can relax, you know." Stratton said with a chuckle. "I am a civilian, after all."

"Permission to speak freely?" Williams asked, earning a cocked eyebrow from Stratton, beckoning her to continue. "You're the civilian that signs our paychecks."

Stratton let out an amused laugh. "I suppose I am… so if you have to follow my orders, then relax. That's an order."

Shepard let her stance slack a bit, but still sat in a respectful manner. Stratton seemed satisfied as he nodded, turning to Shepard. "Commander, It's come to my understanding that you've been putting that new ship of yours to good use. Would you say that it was a good investment?" He asked as the small transport shuttle moved into the shadow of the Citadel's wards.

"Absolutely." Shepard responded. "It's dropped out of FTL right in front of a Turian defensive grid, and remained completely undetected. Calling it a success would be an understatement."

"Good." Stratton said, nodding. "You just convinced me to order the construction of two more."

"Sir?" Shepard asked.

"They function exceptionally well as not only stealth ships, but mobile command centers as well." Stratton said, shrugging. "Admiral Anderson originally proposed the idea to me, and your ship has certainly performed the role well enough." Shepard smiled at the mention of her mentor. "After all, almost all of the fleet's data had gone through the _Normandy_ 's QEC at some point."

"The bar was a nice touch." Kaidan said, earning another laugh from Stratton.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Stratton said, lurching with the vessel as it entered the Citadel's artificial gravity. As Stratton stood, the four N7 Operatives stood as well. Two of them walked on either side of the Chancellor as he descended the opened ramp, entering into a rather large hanger in the Citadel's Presidium. Greeting them was a rather interesting sight. There was an Asari in a seemingly formal dress. It was purple, seeming almost matte, and had red sequins running down the middle. The unnerving similarity to humans did not go unnoticed by Stratton, nor did the Asari's semi-genuine smile.

The Asari smiled as Stratton and his N7 Guards descended the ramp. The Asari had a pair of guards, both of them Asari Commandos. Shepard had a run-in with a Commando during the campaign on Palaven, and they were certainly fearsome warriors when they made proper use of their Biotics. Both of the Commandos seemed to tense up when they saw the N7 Operatives, but remained otherwise stoic. "Welcome to the Citadel." The Asari greeted, a small, somewhat genuine smile on her face. "The Council is waiting for you in the Conference Hall, please follow me."

Stratton nodded as he fell into step behind the Asari, his guards staying a mere few steps away from him at all times. After traversing a few hallways, Stratton was led to a large door, where the Asari and her escorts stopped. "The Council is just through here. They're anxious to begin."

"As am I." Stratton said, nodding. "Thank you."

"Of course." The Asari responded, gesturing for Stratton to step through the door.

Stratton stepped forward, the door automatically opening and allowing him and his guards through. He was greeted by a trio of aliens whom he recognized as Councilor Tevos, Councilor Mesu, and Councilor Sparatus. All three of the alien councilors seemed to straighten out their posture as the Chancellor stepped into the room with four heavily armed and armored guards at his back. "Chancellor Stratton, welcome to the Citadel." Tevos said, taking charge of the conversation.

Stratton suppressed a grin as he noticed the Salarian councilor attempting to take in every minute detail of the N7 armor. He nearly lost his control over his neutral expression when he saw the glare that Sparatus was giving him. He gave a nod of acknowledgement to Tevos as he took a position across the small, rounded table. "Thank you for allowing me. Shall we get started?"

"Indeed." Tevos said, nodding. "Let me start by saying that I am incredibly sorry for the rather… unpleasant meeting you had with us all those years ago."

"I share the sympathies." Stratton agreed. "Now, before we begin, let me preface this discussion. Humanity will, under no circumstance, join the Council as a client species. Human space shall remain under sovereign jurisdiction of the United Human Empire."

"A fair enough term." Tevos said, nodding in agreement. "I'm sure you're well aware that most of the Galaxy is united under the Council's banner, however."

"Indeed, as secondary races." Stratton rebuked. "Which is precisely why Humanity will have nothing to do with this government, other than diplomatic ties."

"Diplomatic ties do sound rather agreeable." Mesu said, nodding. "An exchange of embassies, perhaps?"

"Perfectly fine with me." Stratton responded. "Humanity will have an embassy on the Citadel, and the Council is free to house an embassy on Earth."

"Shall we cut to the chase?" Sparatus asked, drawing a glare from Tevos. Stratton couldn't help but grin at the obviously irritated Turian. "The main issue of these talks would be the space currently under Human occupation. Namely Palaven, Thessia, Haliat, Mannovai, Lusia, and all other contested points of space."

"An issue that will resolve itself once the treaty is agreed upon by all present parties." Stratton replied. "Humanity will return all occupied space, so long as the Exodus Cluster and Arcturus Stream are allowed to be annexed by the UHE."

"Why would you want a system-less relay surrounded by nebulae and an uncolonized section of previously unexplored space?" Tevos asked.

"Buffer space between the Council Worlds and Earth." Stratton responded. "A security measure, if you will. As you can probably understand, the Human populace is not too keen on the idea of the Council being able to transport an entire fleet to Sol in the matter of a few moments."

"A very understandable concern." Tevos said, cutting Sparatus off. She knew damn well that the Turians had been eyeing the Exodus Cluster as a prospect for colonization. "We can discuss that more in-depth as time goes on."

"Very well." Stratton responded.

"I have a question for you, Stratton." Sparatus began, catching the Chancellor's attention.

"And I might have an answer, depending on the question."

"How long do you intend to occupy Council Space?"

"The moment the treaty is signed and put into effect, I will give the general order for all Human assets to return to our own space." Stratton responded.

The discussion for the basic peace ran on for another hour, with the Councilors rather surprised by Stratton's agreeable nature. The Human Chancellor seemed very open to diplomacy, and appeared to be more than willing to negotiate for peace. He did not, however, give up his advantage. Humanity would pay no reparations, nor would the Council. Any Human POWs would be returned to the UHE immediately, and all Council POWs would also be returned. Due to the Exodus Cluster's proximity to Palaven's native Relay, it would be considered a demilitarized zone.

Once the discussion over peace came to a close, with both sides satisfied by the discussed topics, the discussion for post-war relations came about. This is where the true points of contention arose. "We would like to have a form of trade with the UHE." Tevos explained.

"What sort of trade are we discussing here?"

"Trade of all kinds, from domestic technologies to art and culture." Tevos explained.

"Technological trade is out of the question." Stratton responded, shaking his head. "Humanity has no need for Eezo-based technology, but you could only serve to benefit militarily from access to UHE tech. For obvious security reasons, no technological trade will occur. I do not, however, have any issue with the trade of art, culture, civilian amenities, et cetera."

"Are you afraid of other species having your technologies?" Sparatus asked, hostility seeping through his words.

"Giving a species hyper-advanced technology before they are ready, on a cultural and societal level, leads to conflict." Stratton said. "The Council should know that better than anyone."

"I believe we can discuss that at a later time." Tevos said, stopping the Turian's temper in its tracks. "Will Humanity be taking an active role in galactic politics?"

"Only when we are affected." Stratton responded. "I have no intention to involve the UHE in Council matters, and I hope you can extend the same courtesy."

"Of course." Tevos replied, nodding. "I doubt our societies place values on similar ideals, anyways."

"You would be surprised." Stratton responded. "I have no doubt that your idea of an Empire is quite different than my own."

"And what is _your_ idea of an Empire?" Sparatus asked.

"Universal brotherhood and the unity of the species under a common goal." Stratton said, proudly. "That common goal being the individual reaching his greatest state of being. That is how the UHE Constitution words it, anyways."

"Seems awfully idealistic." Mesu commented. "Most emperors prove themselves tyrants with time."

"Hence why we do not have an emperor." Stratton responded, shrugging. "The Chancellor is the highest position of political power in the UHE, and is elected by the Imperial Legislature, which is elected by the people of the UHE."

"An empire with republican ideals?" Tevos asked, smiling. "An interesting combination."

"An effective combination." Stratton responded, nodding. "Everyone in the UHE, be it man, woman, or synth, has a say in their government."

"Synth?" Tevos asked, the translator not having an equivalent expression. "What is that?"

"Synthetic Life Form." Stratton responded, earning wide-eyed looks from the Councilors.

"What?!" Sparatus demanded, practically shouting. The four N7 tensed on their grip at the sudden outburst, but the situation remained civil. "You have artificial intelligences living among you?! Are you insane?"

"Councilor, I am well aware of your society's abject hatred towards synthetic life." Stratton said. "And I also understand that you find them dangerous."

"They are dangerous." Sparatus responded. "Synthetics and Organics will always be in conflict."

"I have yet to ever hear of a synthetic-organic conflict within the UHE." Stratton deadpanned. "Synths have lived alongside their human counterparts for the better part of 300 years."

"How can you be naïve enough to believe that they will not turn on you?" Sparatus asked.

"He does have a point." Mesu responded. "The Geth turned on the Quarians."

"They will not turn on us because we do not treat them as slaves to be exploited." Stratton responded. "Synths and Humans are equal in all rights, with no preference given before the law or otherwise. To the Quarians, the Geth were simply a labor force and nothing more. Can you honestly say that you too would not rebel if your entire existence, from the moment of your creation, was to do the jobs that your creators were too lazy to do, with nothing to show for it?"

"Exactly… how widespread is your synthetic population?" Tevos asked.

"The latest census data shows there to be somewhere between two and three billion Synths living alongside humans." Stratton responded. "Just under a tenth of our population."

Sparatus nearly choked on his own breath when he heard the Human population numbers. A species so massive could easily amass a military several times the size of anything ever encountered, even rivaling the Krogan in their numbers. "Is there a Synth with you?" Mesu asked. "I am quite interested to see one for myself."

"No, all UHE personnel in this room are Human." Stratton responded. "Even if one was a Synth, you would not be able to tell the difference without cutting them open. Externally, they appear no different than a normal Human. Hell, their bodies function in a similar manner."

"Amazing…" Mesu muttered.

The talks carried on for hours, with Stratton skillfully maneuvering his way through the Council's speech and securing a signed peace agreement. Human and Council borders were defined, all occupied space would be returned, Humans would assist in the rebuilding of Thessia, Lusia, Menae, and Mannovai, Humanity would have colonization rights to the Arcturus Stream and Exodus Cluster, Embassies would be exchanged, trade would begin, and Humanity would finally enter the galactic stage as an independent power.

XXXXX

 _"_ _This is Kalissah Al-Jilani with INN, broadcasting to all corners of Human Space. Peace has been achieved between the United Human Empire and the Citadel Council, with Humanity securing its independence and place in this galaxy. Chancellor Stratton has given a speech from the Citadel, which has reached all corners of the Galaxy."_

 _Chancellor Stratton stood before a small collection of camera drones in a hanger aboard the Citadel. He had four N7 Operatives acting as a personal guard as he addressed the galaxy, his words reaching all corners of civilized space._

 _"_ _After nearly eight months of intense fighting across the Galaxy, there is once again a renewed peace. I am aware that, for many watching, this is the first human face you have ever seen. I am happy to say that I will not be the last Human you see before you. Humanity has begun reaching out to those afflicted by our war with the Citadel Council, looking to build towards a collective peace."_

 _"_ _I have only been on the Citadel for just under ten hours, and I am already finding myself swarmed with questions from all corners of the Galaxy, human and alien alike. One question that I find… especially important to answer comes from this very station. 'Why are you doing this? Why conquer us, then push for peace?'" Stratton sighed, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "Something that the species of this galaxy may find surprising is that we all are looking to help one another, Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not misery. I do not want my people to hate or despise anyone, nor do I want my people to be hated and despised. Sadly, due to the events of the past, we have lost the way."_

 _"_ _The QEC and FTL travel has brought Humanity closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood and the unity of all. Right now, my voice is reaching billions across the stars, billions of despairing men, women, and children. These people, Human and Alien alike, are victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people."_

 _"_ _For those who can hear me, I say: Do not despair. The misery of today is but the passing of greed and the bitterness of men who fear the way of progress. The hatred will pass. The power taken from the individual during this war will be returned to the individual. I implore everyone listening… do not hate. Only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural."_

 _"_ _In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke, in a Human religious text, it is written that the Kingdom of God is within Men, not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men. You, the people, have the capacity to make this life a wonderful one. Let us all unite, and fight to make a better galaxy to live in… a decent galaxy to live in. Let us fight for a world where science and reason will lead to happiness and security for all. On behalf of all of Humanity, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies for the events of the past, and hope to begin working towards a better future."_

 _Stratton's words seemed to leave the crews of the camera drones stunned, not expecting such a heart-felt delivery from the Chancellor of an Empire. "Chancellor Stratton…" One of the Asari members of the press asked, catching the Chancellor's attention. "Could you describe the Human species for those watching, as well as your plans for the future?"_

 _Stratton gave a genuine smile. "Humanity is a relative newcomer to the galactic stage, when compared to civilizations like the Asari or Turians. This war was not a war of conquest, nor a war of hate, but a war of security. Had Humanity not proved itself before the galactic stage, war would have occurred regardless of the talks that would have ensued. The Council would have requested our joining of the Citadel as a client species, a fate I refuse to resign my species to."_

 _"_ _As for my plans for the future… I would like to say, to the galaxy as a whole, that peace is and always will be the highest aspiration of the Human species. We will negotiate for it, fight for it, but we will never surrender for it. Now that peace has been achieved, humanity can begin working to forge better relations with the Citadel races."_

 _"_ _Will Humanity be sharing the technologies that you have developed?" A Salarian asked from the crowd._

 _"_ _I'm afraid not." Stratton responded. "The developments of Humanity were meant for humans to bear. Our technology, in many ways, is the product of the First Contact War, all those years ago. The UHE is a government forged in war, and Humanity is a species reborn in blood. As such, many of my friends within the Imperial Legislature are not very keen on the idea of sharing advanced human technologies with a potential adversary. That does not mean Humanity will be shutting itself in and hiding in our own corner of space, however. We will be undertaking trade with the Council, namely in cultural and civilian goods. Humanity will also be providing the 1_ _st_ _Imperial Army Corps of Engineers to assist in the reparations all across the galaxy."_

 _"_ _How will Humanity be interacting with the Council in the future?" A Turian asked._

 _"_ _Mostly through an embassy here on the Citadel. It's planned to open sometime within the next two months. Likewise, the Council will have an Embassy on our homeworld, Earth. Thanks to the exchange of embassies, all prisoners of war that were captured by the UHE will be returned to their families, and we hope the Council will provide the same."_

 _"_ _Some very interesting words from Chancellor Haddock Stratton." Al-Jilani says, her face returning to the forefront of the broadcast as she redirected it back from the hour-long press conference with the Chancellor. "Once again, this has been Kalissah Al-Jilani with INN."_

XXXXX

The vast, empty void of dark space stirred with a presence, monolithic in nature. The product of Chaos felt through his agents, all the suffering inflicted over the short span of time. Millions dead, fleets crippled, and a planned newcomer to the galaxy had gone astray. The original mission failed, these newcomers… Humans, had risen to power far beyond imagining. Their return was expected, even desired, but not like this. They had evolved too far from the technological constraints, grown too powerful, even in the face of the technologies gifted to the other species of the galaxy. Their very existence threatened the plans laid out by time itself. For that, they must be eradicated, just like all other accidental mutations.

Harbinger watched the Galaxy spin around its supermassive black hole, the fires of war dying down, replaced by a false peace. These newcomers were a grave threat, but not an unmanageable one. For the first time in many cycles, the Old Machine felt a stirring in its core, signaling that the time for a more… unorthodox cycle, was now. Preparations were to be made, agents were to be activated, and once all was said and done, the cycle would continue. These new creatures of flesh and bone could not stop the cycle, nothing could.

XXXXX

Saren watched as the Human Chancellor delivered his speeches of lies and deceit to the Galaxy. The very idea of peace spit in the face of everything sacrificed by Saren… even Desolas. Saren's inorganic hand flexed unconsciously as he glared down at the Human Chancellor, watching him with a sick feeling in his stomach. The whispers in his head grew stronger, compelling him, signaling him that these newcomers were a far greater threat now than ever before.

Saren let a soft growl escape from his throat as he turned to leave. He would have his revenge, he would make things right, he would finish what was started all those years ago.

 **Codex Updated:**

 **Synth: Shorthand for "Synthetic Humanoid" or simply "Synthetic". Synths are a rather small portion of the Human population, but remain an incredibly important one. Synthetics combine the most advanced research into artificial intelligence technology, as well as highly specialized robotics. Their bodies, unless damaged physically, are almost completely indistinguishable from the average human's. They are capable of replicating almost every human bodily function.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Blitz

**Chapter 7: The Blitz**

Annalise sighed as she stared at the _exact same_ data flooding in from the _exact same_ place that _Normandy_ had passed several times during its routine patrol of Human borders. Being assigned to peacetime patrols of fringe space was a nightmare, especially when on a stealth ship. _Normandy_ was completely alone, off monitoring the border between the Attican Traverse and the UHE.

Annalise barely stifled a groan as she realized just how little time had passed. The Second Contact War was already nine months past, and she had gotten three of those as shore leave. She still had another month of aimlessly drifting along the fringes of Human space, the entire crew bored out of their minds. She relished the opportunity to _finally_ have her comms ping with Joker's voice coming over them. "Shepard? We're detecting a distress signal coming from the Traverse, just popped up on sensors."

"Distress signal?" Shepard asked, earning a questioning look from Traynor, who was stood just a few feet away.

"UHE shipping vessel, light transport, registered under the Haken Corporation. It was supposed to be shipping raw materials and stuff to Salarian Space." Joker explained.

"Mechanical failure?"

"Unknown, I'd advise we check it out."

"Alright. Set coordinates and bring the Stealth System online." Annalise ordered.

"Aye, ma'am!" Joker responded, beginning to carry out his orders.

The jump to Fringe Space was short but tense. The few minutes-long FTL jump to the shipping lane between the small UHE Colony of Mindoir and Council Space was filled by a near-tangible tension. The ship's signal was emanating from a point in space that remained lightly guarded, due to it being between UHE and Council patrols. The _Normandy_ , being the fastest vessel in the UHE Fleet would, without a doubt, be the first responder.

After a short, stealthy jump into the empty void of space between Mindoir's native star and the local Mass Relay, the sensors of _Normandy_ were greeted with an interesting sight. The UHE Shipping Freighter was pinged on sensors almost immediately, but the existence of both the Neutronium Core's signature and a Mass Effect Core signature caught both Shepard's and Joker's interest. "Joker, do you have any idea who that second ship belongs to?"

"I'm not reading a transmitting IFF, but design and emissions point towards it being Batarian. It's barely larger than us, but it looks older." Joker explained. "There's also hull damage all along the shipping vessel, obvious mas accelerator impacts."

"Patch Fleet Command Alpha in, notify them of the situation." Shepard ordered. "Get an in-depth scan of the area and the two ships, but stay hidden."

"Aye, ma'am." Joker responded. "Running Deep Scan now."

Annalise scanned over the incoming data from her personal Datatool, most of it benign sensor data. There was one particular scan that caught her interest, the scan for UHE Neural Implant Transponders. Her concerns were given voice by Joker. "Shepard… I'm detecting around a dozen Neural Implants aboard that Batarian Ship."

"And given what we know about the Batarians, I doubt they're here to help the crew…" Shepard agreed, sighing deeply. Her attention was diverted by an incoming QEC Communication from _Retribution_. Already knowing the sender, she accepted the communication. "Admiral Hackett!" She says, snapping into a crisp salute as the hologram of the Galaxy Map is replaced by Hackett's image.

"Commander Shepard, at ease." Hackett said, waving off the gesture. "I'm scanning over the data from _Normandy_ 's sensors. I want you to cripple that vessel and board it."

"Sir?" Shepard asked.

"These Batarians are slavers, no question." Hackett responded. "I will not let our people be enslaved by these scum."

"Understood, Admiral." Shepard said, nodding. "Secondary objective?"

"Get any data from that ship's mainframe. I want to know if the Batarian Hegemony sanctioned this, or if it was just a small band of Traverse Pirates trying to get a quick buck."

"Aye, sir." Shepard said, earning a nod from Hackett before he killed the communication from his end. Shepard turned her communicator back online, connecting to the cockpit. "Joker, deactivate the stealth drive and target the Batarian Vessel's engines with our forward battery."

"Aye, Commander."

XXXXX

The _Normandy_ , in a single swift maneuver, dropped its stealth drive and accelerated towards the Batarian Vessel. Shepard and Hackett's suspicions were confirmed when the vessel attempted to turn tail and activate its weapons, but the smaller and quicker _Normandy_ was simply too fast for the Batarian-made cruiser.

The small Human frigate's forward Plasma Lance found its mark on the rear thrusters of the Batarian vessel, boiling the metallic plating protecting the delicate engineering. Once _Normandy_ reached a closer distance to the Batarian ship, it made use of a new weapon given to it after its retrofits over Earth. A single torpedo was launched from an internal hardpoint on the underside of the frigate, which quickly accelerated to speeds in excess of Mach-25. Due to the angle, the Batarian cruiser was unable to fire any countermeasures or CIWS to intercept the dumb-fire torpedo. The torpedo impacted, sending the Titanium-Tungsten penetrator spearing through the weakly-armored engines. Once sufficiently embedded, the plasma core of the torpedo went up, cooking the vessel's entire array of rear engines from within.

After its pass, _Normandy_ reengaged its stealth drive, disappearing from the sensors of the Batarian vessel. The larger, slower Batarian vessel was left drifting on its maneuvering thrusters. A few moments later, _Normandy_ reappeared on sensors, followed by six quick bursts from its Plasma Lance. The kinetic barriers were now online, but the older barriers were no match for UHE weapons. The first two Lances were completely absorbed and stopped, with the third spearing through the barriers and finding its mark against the Cruiser's port-side turrets. The three other Lances were directed towards similar points on the armor, melting the barrels of the weapons.

After two more maneuvers like the previous, the Cruiser was left defenseless and adrift, completely at the mercy of the UHE frigate. _Normandy_ 's quick and agile nature had left it completely untouched by the lone Cruiser.

The _Normandy_ moved to align itself with the top of the Batarian Cruiser, matching speeds with the larger vessel. A small hatch on the underside of the vessel opened up, just over the top of the Cruiser's hull.

XXXXX

Shepard and her team pulled themselves into the vacuum of space from the small hatch, designed to drop Atmospheric Insertion Pods from the underside of the vessel. Their sealed armor's compression thrusters lit up, allowing the operatives to align themselves with the vessels. Their thrusters allowed them to lower themselves towards the Batarian Cruiser's dorsal armor. As they touched down on the vessel, they activated the magnetic clamps on their boots.

With a quick hand signal, Shepard motioned for her team to begin moving across the hull armor. The silent, black void of space seemed to shift in their vision as they slowly marched across the armored plating of the Batarian Cruiser. Shepard glanced at the scanner data that Traynor was feeding through her suit's communications suite, giving her the exact location of her team on the hull of the vessel. They continued on their way towards the bow of the vessel, never dropping their guards.

Their spacewalk remained uninterrupted, all the way to their primary objective, the bridge of the vessel. Council vessels had a single, primary weakness that UHE boarding parties had exploited all throughout the Second Contact War: exposed bridges. The bridge of the Batarian Cruiser was no different. It rested near the top of the bow armor, giving Shepard and her team a prime insertion point.

Shepard held her hand up in a silent order to halt their advance. The clear, glass-like substance that served as the bridge's viewports was a mere few feet away, hilariously exposed. Noting that all UHE Neural Implant signatures were concentrated near the center of the vessel, Shepard had no reservations about her next course of action.

She reached up to her combat harness, grabbing a small, adhesive shaped charge. She strolled towards the exposed viewport, pressing the shaped charge onto the point where pressurized glass met armored plating, and stepped back with the rest of her team. She sent the signal through her suit's communicator for the charge to detonate, causing the small bundle of plastic explosives to go up.

The explosion in the vacuum of space remained completely silent, but its effects were devastating. In an instant, the entire clear surface of the bridge's viewport exploded inwards, causing the internal atmosphere to begin escaping. A single Batarian in an armored suit was sucked into the ageless void of space, and quickly found a coilgun round embedded in his helmet by Lawson.

Knowing that their window was short, Shepard ran towards the opening in the ship's pressurized environment. She pulled a slightly risky maneuver with her thrusters, assisted by her inertia, and managed to slip through the hole created in the vessel's bridge. Her team followed a few steps behind, Alenko barely making it in before the vessel's barriers created an artificial seal over the breach.

The crew of the vessel was strewn all around, moved about by the sudden change in pressurization. They all wore unmarked black armor that varied in make and protectiveness. Some wore lighter armor, while others wore far heavier armor that seemed designed for soldiers with heavy weapons. Shepard raised her coilgun and fired into the stunned bridge crew, along with the rest of her team. The disoriented crew of twelve was unable to effectively retaliate before they all lay dead at the hands of the four elite Human operatives.

Quickly, Shepard scanned over the Bridge and connected to _Normandy_ through her communicator. "EDI, I need a cyber-warfare attack on the vessel's systems immediately. Scramble their comms and get me a readout of the ship's internals. Pull any and all data from the vessel and scan it over."

"Underway, Commander." EDI responded, her synthesized voice sounding completely calm and collected as she diverted her processes towards attacking the relatively weak Batarian cyber-defenses.

After a moment, an internal readout of the vessel was transferred to Shepard's Datatool, allowing her to view the ship's internal design. After scanning it over for a few moments, Shepard motioned with her hand. "Let's move!" She ordered, moving towards the bridge's exit with her rifle in a low-ready position.

After stepping through, Shepard was greeted by the sight of an obviously older Batarian military cruiser. The metal of the internal halls were aged, brown splotches seemed to creep from the corners. Exposed wiring was quite clearly visible, indicating both the state of repair that the vessel was in, as well as its age. The dimly-lit halls were filled by the red emergency lights.

As she advanced through the vessel, towards the central decks, she was greeted by a very sparsely-crewed vessel. The Cruiser was obviously running with a skeleton crew. She covered three decks with her team before she finally encountered any resistance. A group of three Batarians were dug in behind a makeshift barricade of scrap metal and furniture. As Shepard rounded the corner, all three Mass Effect-Tech rifles opened up on her, forcing her to scramble into cover.

Shepard decided to stick in cover, seeing that her shields were almost completely drained by the combined fire of three automatic rifles. Luckily, it seemed that Lawson and Williams were more than willing to assist. As Lawson shimmered out of sight, activating her cloaking module, Williams pulled a small cylindrical grenade from her combat harness. In a quick motion, Williams activated the grenade and tossed it around the corner, earning a bright flash and a loud pop that were both suppressed by their armor's active visors and hearing protection. Lawson slipped out of cover, a pair of Coil Pistols drawn.

As Lawson spotted the three Batarians, obviously stunned by the tossed flashbang, she deactivated her cloaking module, and emptied her magazines into the helmets of the Batarians. "Clear!" Lawson stated, slotting new magazines into her handguns.

Shepard stepped out from her cover behind the opposite wall, her shields fully recharged. "Let's move." She said, nodding towards the hall containing three Batarians, their skulls splintered by the hypervelocity slugs.

Shepard and her team continued through the dimly-lit halls of the Batarian vessel, checking rooms as they passed. The layout of the vessel was nothing short of strange to the Human operatives, with the internal design showing very little practicality for combat. After examining the schematics for the vessel more closely, Shepard realized that the vessel was a refit civilian liner given weapons and slightly thicker plating.

After covering another short distance, the operatives were able to make out a faint conversation between two Batarians, their translators relaying the words to them in plain English. "Have we heard anything from the Bridge?"

"Nope, totally radio silent."

"Damnit… what the hell's going on?!"

"No idea. Humans are probably trying to board the ship."

"For such weak-looking creatures, they're pretty good fight-" The speaking Batarian was cut off as a coilgun round found a new home in his chest cavity, causing him to drop to the metallic floor. The second was dropped by a round from Williams' rifle, clean through center-mass.

As the N7 team rounded the corner, they were able to make out what the two Batarians were guarding. It was a large blast door, looking several inches thick and made of dense alloys. "Lawson." Shepard said, nodding to the door.

Lawson nodded, pulling up her Datatool and setting to work. After a few moments, the orange holographic display in front of the door shifted to green with a soft beep. Shepard stepped forward, her team in a tight diamond formation as she activated the door. As she stepped through, her shields were battered by incoming gunfire.

Shepard ducked into cover, her shields collapsing a mere moment prior. Her heavier armor was able to absorb the small slug, but the plating did not go undamaged. Her team was scattered throughout the room, which was obviously some sort of brig. There were Batarians in heavy armor, dug in behind makeshift defenses. Shepard counted at least twelve in the short time she had to look.

Shepard spotted Alenko, who was ducked behind a metal crate, clutching his arm. Her HUD signaled that he was wounded, and that his armor's bio-gel dispenser had activated. As his arm was temporarily immobilized, he switched his scattergun out for one of his two machine pistols, firing over his cover.

Lawson shimmered back into a visible state just behind a pair of Batarians that were separated from the main defensive line. Her combat knife found itself embedded in the exposed neck of a rifle-wielding Batarian. In a blindingly fast display of agility and speed, the knife was ripped outwards, the heated metal blade smashing through the eyepiece of the other Batarian's helmet. The Batarian let out a short scream before the knife was ripped from his skull, and Lawson disappeared again.

Williams activated a fragmentation grenade, tossing it around her cover. The grenade forced the Batarian defenders into cover long enough to allow her to slip behind the same crate as Alenko, her attention shifting to his wound.

Once Shepard's shields fully recharged, she leaned out from behind the slab of metal that she was using for cover. Her Coilgun fired in rapid succession, six slugs finding their place in a Batarian skull. Before the return-fire forced her back into cover, she tossed a single fragmentation grenade behind a bundle of four Batarians. Their curses were cut short by a loud detonation, scattering metal shards in all directions.

Lawson reappeared behind a group of three Batarians, her presence making itself known as one's neck snapped, drawing the attention of the other two. Before the two could react, one found his head slammed into the metal wall. The helmet covering the Batarian's head cracked under the sheer force exerted by the N7 Shadow, the wall also suffering a rather large dent. As Lawson turned to face the third Batarian, she found him to be activating his Omni-Tool, a rather large orange blade folding out from the holographic interface. The alien made the mistake of engaging a Shadow in close quarters.

Lawson swiftly ducked out of the way of the poorly-executed jab with the Omni-Blade, grabbing the Batarian's wrist as she moved. She wrenched the armored gauntlet up and twisted, a sickening crack sounding out over the cacophony of gunfire as the Batarian's shoulder was dislocated. The alien let out a shout of agony, which was swiftly silenced by Lawson forcing the alien's head to the floor with another twist, followed by a quick downward stab with her combat knife.

The now thoroughly disoriented Batarians found themselves quickly dispatched by a combined effort from Lawson, Williams, and Shepard. The remaining four Batarians, being spread out, were easy marks for the N7 fireteam.

Shepard stood up from her cover, scanning the area to ensure that it was clear. "Williams, status?" She asked, slotting a new magazine into her coilgun.

"Flesh wound." Williams responded, matter-of-factly. "He'll be fine."

Shepard looked around, checking their position on the ship's schematics. They had finally arrived in the room that held the Neural Implant signals. "Fan out, search this room." Shepard ordered.

Shepard moved about the dimly-lit room, her rifle in a low-ready. She and her team, after scanning the room, came upon a rather large detention cell of some kind. It looked ramshackle in its construction, seeming to be an afterthought addition to the vessel. Shepard walked over to one of the panels lining the wall, her Neural Implant translating the Batarian text to a decipherable Human language. She pressed a quick series of keys, prompting a small door to hiss, and slide open.

Shepard looked through the now-open door, her stomach churning in disgust as she saw what it contained. Inside were four Humans, their clothing torn, tattered, and looking almost burnt. Each of them looked to Shepard with wide-eyed fear at first, then a look of excitement crossed their faces as they saw a UHE Soldier standing before them. Three of them were male, while one was female.

"Oh thank God!" The woman said, seeing Shepard and her team. "We knew the UHE wouldn't abandon us!" Shepard shuddered slightly as she saw that the woman was almost completely naked, bruises covering most of her body. The only thing providing her with a sense of decency was a rag garment covering her waist, and her arm covering her breasts.

Shepard let her rifle collapse back down to its portable form, re-attaching it to her back. "You're all okay… were you all the crew of the Haken Corp freighter?"

"Yes, we are." One of the men, wearing a tattered button-up shirt and slacks said. "We were making a standard stop to flush our Void Drive's heat sinks when we got attacked. The Batarians took us in here… I think they were taking us back to their Space." The more well-dressed man seemed to much calmer than the three others.

"Four-eyed freaks…" Williams commented, stepping past Shepard to check over any wounds that the four captured crewmen might have.

Shepard looked back to Lawson and Alenko. "Get the rest of these cells open."

"Of course." Lawson said, nodding. She led the way back into the hallway, stepping out of sight.

Shepard pressed a hand to the side of her helmet. "Joker, bring the _Normandy_ about and dock with the cruiser. We've located the captured crew."

"Yes, Commander." Joker responded. "I've notified Admiral Hackett, and he's sending a fleet to relieve us. He wants us to jump to Mindoir as soon as possible."

"What for?" Shepard asked.

"Batarians hit Mindoir." Joker explained, a slight discomfort mixed with disgust in his voice. Shepard tensed up, looking down to the four that Williams was tending to. "Fleet estimates that well over a thousand people were captured by the Batarian raid."

XXXXX

Stratton was normally a rather calm and collected man. His temper _very_ rarely ever made itself known, he liked to think that he had enough control over it to remain calm. It was taking almost every ounce of willpower that he possessed to not start punching bulkheads.

He stood in the agonizingly slow elevator of the Presidium's tower, the Council having summoned him for an audience. He was halfway to New Eden when the news about the Batarian raid on Mindoir reached his ear, and he honestly did feel bad for whoever had to clean up the damages to his office on board his ship. Joining him on the elevator were two agents of the Imperial Intelligence Corps, codenamed Cerberus, each of them concealing compact coilguns and body armor underneath their suits. "Tell me… _exactly_ how rhe Batarians hit Mindoir." Stratton said, taking a deep breath through his nose. He probably should have asked about the details of the attack _before_ he started cursing in his office.

"Their attack on the small civilian freighter on the edge of the Relay System was simply a diversion." One of the two agents responded. Stratton recognized her as one of the agents that generally accompanied him to events like this. She was a synthetic, Maya Brooks, and one of his most respected agents. Her being a previous-gen N7 Project Operative made her quite intimidating, even without the armor. "They used the hole created in the patrol pattern to jump a small fleet from the Relay System to Mindoir's system. Mindoir's small defense fleet put up a fight, but they were outnumbered three to one."

"How the fuck did that happen?" Stratton asked. "How many ships were in Mindoir's orbit? Orbital Defense Platforms?"

"The Orbital Defense Grid for Mindoir is still under construction." Brooks continued. "As for the fleet, Mindoir is a small colony on the fringe of UHE space, barely 200,000 residents. Seeing as Mindoir is not in a system containing a Relay, Naval Command didn't see a reason to commit a defense fleet any larger than a few Wyvern Frigates and a single Ares-class to it."

As much as Stratton hated to admit it, it made a certain kind of sense. There was no point in defending a world that would be near-impossible for a Council Fleet to reach, most of the time, with a massive fleet. "And this fleet was able to jump into UHE space… how?"

"We initially believed them to be a military escort for a small Batarian merchant fleet that was passing through the native Relay to trade. By the time we detected that they were diverting from their course, they were well out of range of our defenses, and could jump straight to Mindoir." Brooks continued. "By the time the fleet arrived, their ships were already in-atmosphere over the colony itself. Orbital bombardment was impossible, and the Batarians had the balls to make an in-atmo FTL jump out of the system. One of our Wolf-Class Destroyers was able to intercept one of the ships as it jumped, but the rest managed to get away."

"The ship we intercepted? Did we save anyone?" Stratton asked.

"Roughly 50 colonists, most of them women and children." Brooks responded, her face remaining level and calm. "We sifted through their ship's databanks after the surviving Batarians were executed. We believe that the Batarian Government sponsored this attack by paying off this third-party slaver group with military technology, credits, and ships."

"What do you mean, 'we believe'?" Stratton asked.

"Our technicians uncovered the data of a deleted general message to the entire slaver fleet. The message came from the Batarian world of Torfan's governor. The content of the message was corrupted, but the metadata was still there."

"Son of a bitch…" Stratton muttered through clenched teeth. This elevator wasn't doing much to relieve Stratton's growing stress.

Just as the Chancellor honestly considered drawing his pistol, shattering the elevator's glass door, and taking the service ladder instead, the elevator came to a stop at its destination, the Council Chambers. As the door slid open, a small collection of reporters were present at the exit, all of them held back by C-SEC. Humans were not an uncommon sight on the Citadel, not with how many passed through the station to do business. A few Humans even owned shops or restaurants on the Citadel. There was certainly a feeling of tension between Humans and the Council Species, but the market certainly desired Human goods enough to look past the tensions.

Stratton kept his gaze forward as he strolled past the C-SEC officers that were keeping the press away from him. He made his way across the Presidium's courtyard, his agents walking in-step with him. He could see the Council awaiting him, all of them standing atop their floating pedestals. Joining them, on a slightly lower pedestal, was a Batarian in obviously formal attire. All four of the Batarian's eyes seemed to regard Stratton with distrust, possibly even downright hatred.

The Human Chancellor stepped up to the small platform, standing before the Council and Batarian. Tevos gave a small smile as he approached, finally speaking when he came to a stop and clasped his hands behind his back. "Chancellor Stratton, thank you for coming." Tevos said, her voice diplomatic and her expression turning neutral. "I'm sure you already know why we asked you to come?" At this, the Batarian seemed to almost snarl at the Chancellor, prompting him to clench his fists in frustration.

"Indeed, I do." Stratton said, his voice carrying all throughout the Presidium thanks to the acoustics of the room. "And I must say, of all the things I _wasn't_ expecting to deal with when I woke up this morning, it would be hearing about Humans being captured and enslaved." Stratton seemed to spit the last word out like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Lies!" The Batarian shouted, earning glares from Tevos and Mesu. "Your fleet attacked a merchant fleet! They barely escaped from your accursed vessels with their lives!"

Tevos looks like she was ready to speak up, but Stratton cut her off. "Oh really?" Stratton asked, sarcasm laden within his words. "Is that why they jumped to a small Human colony, destroyed its small defense fleet, and took over a thousand people as slaves?!" Stratton's shout caused the Councilors and even the Batarian to recoil slightly. He continued. "I was kind enough to _allow_ your degenerate species to trade with my own! I was kind enough _not_ to send a fleet to blockade you during the Second Contact War! I was kind enough to look the other way once the treaty was signed, even as innocents were being _enslaved_! Hell, I was feeling diplomatic enough to come to the Citadel and shake hands with the Batarian Hegemon! You spit that in my fucking face, lie to me, and enslave _my_ people?!"

"Your hollow words mean nothing, Human." The Batarian responded. "You've given no proof of this other than through your own words! You spit on ancient Batarian tradition and culture! The Caste System is as old as our species!"

"A culture that enslaves is not one worth existing." Stratton said, glaring at the Batarian. As the Batarian representative crossed his arms, Stratton was able to make out a small imprint on his clothes, looking suspiciously like a pistol's grip. "The Council has outlawed slavery, yet for some reason, they seem content to allow their people to be taken from their families and turned into property!"

"Batarians have had their Caste system since they first made contact with the Council." Tevos said, hoping to defuse the heated discussion. "They were allowed to keep it as a gesture of good faith from the Council."

"Tell me, Tevos… how many Asari do you think are some Batarian's plaything right now?" Stratton asked, earning an audible gasp from some of the members of the press. "How many Turians were captured in skirmishes against Batarian slavers? How many Salarians were taken from fringe colonies in the Traverse? Their caste system enables this kind of degeneracy, legitimizing a corrupt and morally bankrupt government."

"Coming from an Empire?" The Batarian asks.

"An Empire that has outlawed slavery for longer than your species has been spacfaring, enforces strict rules of engagement, and prioritizes freedom and individual liberty." Stratton responds. "Your disgusting government prioritizes social stagnation, corruption, enslavement, and exploitation. I don't care how long you've exploited people and enslaved. The age of a practice does not make it right."

"Perhaps we could move onto a more… amicable discussion?" Tevos asked, catching the arguing pair's attention.

"Yes!" The Batarian responds. "The Hegemony demands reparations for our destroyed merchant fleet, as well as all of the goods that it carried." Stratton could see that Tevos was honestly considering tossing the Batarian out of the nearest airlock. He shared the sentiment.

"How about this instead?" Stratton asked, glaring daggers at the Batarian. "In exactly twenty four Galactic Standard Hours, every missing Human from Mindoir _will_ be returned to Human Space. Failure to meet these _demands_ will result in us taking them back on _our_ terms."

"There are no Humans to return, so your demands are impossible to meet." The Batarian responded, nearly causing Stratton's teeth to grind to a powder in frustration.

"Very well… then consider this a formal declaration of war against the Batarian Hegemony." Stratton said, causing the entire Presidium to fall into a stunned silence.

"You dare threaten us?!" The Batarian responded. "We are a Council member, you would be declaring war on the Council as a whole."

After a few silent glances were exchanged by the Council, as well as a few nods, Tevos spoke up. "Due to recent events, reasoning stated by Chancellor Stratton, and budding relations between the UHE and the Council, the Citadel Council will not come to the defense of the Batarian Hegemony." The Batarian, and the entire Presidium, stood in stunned silence once again. Stratton smiled a predatory smile as he turned to the Batarian representative.

"Thank you, Councilors." Stratton said, nodding to each of them in kind. "Now that this is out of the way, I will excuse myself. I have preparations to make." With that, Stratton turned on a heel and strolled away from the Council, leaving all of Citadel Space stunned.

XXXXX

Shepard stepped onto the CIC, her armor completely replaced by her normal Commander's uniform. The ship's crew was all working in a solemn silence. She noticed one part of the CIC was missing, the quirky Comms Specialist. In her place was the second shift's Comms Specialist, Kelly Chambers. Shepard didn't remember altering the sleep cycle, Samantha should be at her station right now. Shepard walked over, catching Chambers' attention. "Specialist Chambers, what are you doing on-deck? You're not on this cycle."

"Oh… Commander…" Kelly said, surprised by the Commander's questioning. "Specialist Traynor… is down in the Med-Bay on Deck 3."

"What happened?" Shepard asked.

"I don't know… Doctor Chakwas just asked me if I could take her place for a few hours, so here I am."

Shepard nodded. "Very well, as you were." Shepard said, allowing Kelly to return to her terminal.

Shepard made her way back into the elevator, taking it down to the Crew Deck. Once on-deck, she rounded the corner into the Mess Hall. There were a few Marines and off-duty crewmen sitting at the metal tables, eating their meals. She made her way into the Med-Bay, on the opposite side of the room from the XO's quarters.

Upon entering, she was greeted by the sterile white medical facility of the _Normandy_ , easily one of the most advanced in the fleet. She could make out the ship's chief medical officer, the silver-haired Doctor Karin Chakwas, standing over a terminal, typing incredibly quickly. The privacy shutters around a single bed were up, blocking it from sight. "Doctor?" Shepard asked, catching the doctor slightly off guard.

"Oh!" Chakwas said, jumping slightly. "Commander… I assume you're here about Specialist Traynor?"

"I am." Shepard said. "I like to know what's going on with my crew." Shepard explained.

"You know that I'm not obligated to share the intricate details, but I can tell you that she experienced a nervous breakdown about two hours ago." Chakwas explained. "She's fine, physically… I'm giving her a day's rest from her duties."

"Very well…" Shepard said, choosing not to argue with or prod the _Normandy_ 's resident mother-figure any further. "Would you mind if I spoke with Specialist Traynor?"

"Not at all, just keep it as brief as possible." Chakwas said, earning a nod from the Commander. Once Shepard turned towards the single occupied bed in the room, Chakwas returned to her terminal.

Shepard took a deep breath before stepping through the privacy shutter, the metal moving aside as the Commander pressed a few keys on the shutter itself. As she stepped through, she saw the normally-quirky and upbeat comms specialist was lying on the medical bed, curled up. Her arms were wrapped around her abdomen, and Shepard could make out the faint lines of fallen tears on her cheeks. Traynor bolted upright as the Commander stepped in.

"C-Commander!" Traynor said, sitting upright and giving a salute. Shepard could now see quite clearly that Traynor's eyes were still heavy with sadness.

"At ease, Sam." Annalise said, her voice heavy with concern. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Y-Yes, Command-… err, Annalise." Traynor said, remembering her discussion just a few months ago. "Just some motion sickness from Joker's fancy flying a few hours ago." Sam lied through her teeth. She knew that she was a terrible liar, but she secretly hoped that the Commander would buy it.

"Motion sickness, huh?" Annalise said, sitting on the bed next to Sam. "Chakwas said otherwise."

 _Damn…_ Sam thought to herself. "I-It's nothing, Commander… I'll be fine."

"Sam…" Shepard said, her voice going from that of an officer, becoming that of a concerned friend. "You don't have to tell me anything, I'm not going to force you to say anything you're uncomfortable with… I just like to know what's wrong with one of my crew… and one of my friends. Let me know if I'm stepping over any boundaries, though."

"No!" Sam said, catching herself in her sudden excitement at the Commander's words. _She's actually concerned about me… as a friend?_ "I… I want to tell you about it. Might make me feel better." Annalise nodded, beckoning Sam to continue. "My parents are Earth natives… they always wanted the freedom that a colony life could offer. That's why I lived on Horizon for a few years before University." Sam took a deep, shaky breath. "My… my mother is a nurse, usually works with kids. Once I graduated from Oxford, she and my father always talked about moving back to the colonies, and they did a few months ago."

Despite Sam's best efforts, she couldn't stop a few sobs from escaping. In response, Annalise placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. After a few moments, before Annalise could let her know that she didn't have to continue, Sam resumed speaking. "And of course, the bloody colony they chose was Mindoir…"

 **Codex Updated**

 **Wolf-Class Destroyer- A next-generation Destroyer spacecraft designed for the sole intent of patrol and ship-hunting. It is equipped with negative energy and Mass Effect detection sensors, as well as one of the fastest Void Drives ever created, only beaten by the** ** _Normandy_** **'s. It is exceptional at hunting ships, intercepting fleets, and patrolling the fringes of Human Space.**

 **Cerberus- Humanity's guardian and protector, Cerberus is the UHE's largest intelligence division. They function as both a domestic counter-espionage force, and a rather shady black ops force. Cerberus Operatives are hand-picked by the director of Cerberus, a man known to most of Humanity and the Galaxy at large only as The Illusive Man. Many special forces divisions, fleets, and a single Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate are at the disposal of Cerberus. Very little happens in the Milky Way that escapes the knowledge of this shadowy organization.**

 **The Illusive Man- Known to a select few as Jack Harper, The Illusive Man is the director of Humanity's Cerberus. Harper was chosen by Chancellor Stratton to direct the organization that would be Humanity's guardian against potential incursions. Despite Cerberus being the youngest of Humanity's government-controlled organizations, it is by far one of the most powerful. This, effectively, grants Harper more power than most Admirals and Planetary Governors.**

 **UHE Orbital Defense Platform- A static orbital defensive platform, designed to protect Human colonies from invasion. While the ODPs of the Council utilize Mass Accelerators, the UHE uses more… unconventional methods. Their ODPs fall into one of three categories: Fighter Hangers, Orbital Ion Beams, or Orbital Hypervelocity Cannons. Every orbital defense grid has a mix of the three, varying by the importance or population of the colony in question.**

 **Haken Corporation- One of Humanity's three corporate giants. The Haken Corporation emerged as a conglomerate of dozens of European companies, most of them civilian in nature. The Haken Corporation is one of the largest exporters of civilian goods to the Citadel Council, exporting everything from clothing, foodstuffs, civilian vehicles, personal electronics, raw materials, and refined materials.**

 **A/N:**

 **More updates, yay!**

 **I really appreciate all of the reviews you guys have been leaving. I honestly can't believe the amount of feedback, favs, and follows that this story has gotten so quickly. It's honestly amazing to me, thank you all.**

 **To address something, someone asked me what I based the UHE off of, if I got it from a Sci-fi universe, or if it's an entity of my own creation. I actually just kinda… mashed a few fictional and historical governments together. The UHE could best be described as a mix between the German Empire under Bismarck, the UEE from Star Citizen, a little bit of the Imperium of Man, and a little bit of the UNSC sprinkled in there too. Basically, Humanity: Fuck Yeah.**

 **And for BlackMyst, thank you for your review about the thought that went into this Humanity. A lot of their tech, like the Neutronium Reactor or Focused Gallium Ion Beam, is either something that would be theoretically possible that I happened to think up with a few friends of mine, or already exists in some form today. Most of Humanity's tech actually came about thanks to some lengthy discussions about why we need Sci-fi where Humanity isn't a little bitch compared to the aliens they fight.**

 **As always, thanks for the follows, favs, and reviews. I appreciate every one of them and read them all.**


	8. Chapter 8: Retribution

**Chapter 8: Retribution**

Annalise ran a comforting hand across Traynor's back as she worked to control her quiet sobs. For some reason, Annalise's heart wrenched as she watched the quirky Specialist in such a state. "I'm sure they're okay…" Annalise comforted, knowing fully well that she couldn't make such a promise.

"I… I couldn't get any messages through…" Sam made out in between sobs.

"The communications grid over Mindoir's probably down." Annalise explained, hoping to ease the Specialist's fears. "We'll be in Mindoir's system in just under an hour… I can look into it while I'm down there."

"R-Really?" Sam asked, looking up to her Commander, tears still making their way down her face.

"Really." Annalise responded, giving a small smile.

"Thank you, Annalise." Sam responded, returning the smile.

"No problem, Sam." Annalise responded, giving her friend a small hug. "If you want, you can come with me down to the planet. Hackett's forces have already secured the colony."

Sam seemed to brighten up at this. "Really? You'd bring me along? You can do that?"

"Nobody says I can't." Annalise shrugged. "And if there is a rule against it, I obviously don't intend to follow it."

Sam chuckled, giving Annalise a genuine, happy smile. "Thank you… thank you so much, Commander."

"Don't worry about it…" Annalise responded, standing upright. "Now get a bit of rest, I'll let you know when we're over Mindoir."

XXXXX

Annalise stepped off of the small dropship, Samantha and Ashley following behind. The entirety of Mindoir was, quite literally, filled with UHE Military personnel. Marines and their logistics personnel were walking around the rather large colony city, carrying crates and patrolling the perimeter. The skies were filled by Falcons and passing dropships, with the small planet's orbit being filled by a full UHE Battle Fleet. It was a bit strange to see this much equipment around such a small colony.

The colony itself seemed battered by the quick Batarian assault, with some of the buildings falling victim to high-altitude mass accelerator bombardment. Wounded colonists were constantly being recovered from the ruins of housing, with a disconcerting amount of dead turning up as well. Sam seemed uneasy as she followed behind Shepard and Williams, both of them wearing their armor without the helmets.

Shepard was originally called to Mindoir to attend a joint discussion between the UHE Military's various branches, but had arrived a bit early to help Sam.

Sam's fears grew and grew as she approached one of the more residential districts of the colony, which was absolutely ransacked. Windows of the various buildings were shattered, some were completely leveled, and bombardment craters marked the surface of the otherwise peaceful garden world. She had no idea where to start, but she hoped that Annalise had an idea. Sam didn't notice that Shepard was typing on her Datatool until she spoke up. "Traynor, what're your parents' names?"

"William and Priya Traynor." Sam said, giving her superior officer a concerned look as she scanned over her datatool.

After a moment, Shepard's expression seemed to brighten up. "There's a William and Priya Traynor that are working with the UHE Medical Personnel in the field hospital on the eastern outskirts of the main colony. Not far from here, actually, just a few minutes away from the UHE Central Command Facility."

"Really?!" Sam asked, relief spreading across her face. "Oh, thank God."

"Feel free to meet up with them." Shepard said. "Lieutenant-Commander Williams and I are needed at CENTCOM."

XXXXX

Shepard and Williams stepped into the bright, sterile white room containing several of the UHE's highest-ranked military officials in this sector of Human space, including Admiral Hackett. She saluted as she stepped inside, a gesture that was returned by all of the officers. "Welcome, Commander." Hackett said, motioning for her to sit in one of the metallic chairs that were provided for the attendees.

"Thank you for the invitation, Admiral." Shepard said, taking a seat next to the Navy's highest-ranked officer.

"Commander Shepard…" A UHE Marines General began. Shepard recognized him as General Douglas Petrovsky, one of the members of the Chancellor's Military Advisory Board. "The reason we brought you here is twofold. One; we need the _Normandy_ to spearhead the assault into Batarian Space."

"We've declared war?" Shepard asked, unaware of the events on the Citadel.

"Indeed." Petrovsky replied, nodding. "And the Chancellor's given us the green light to toss the ROE out the window. We're in Total War now." Shepard nodded in understanding, the gravity of the General's words not quite setting in yet. Total War was one of the UHE's very rarely-used tactics. It involved the _complete_ destruction of their enemies, regardless of the damages done. "As for the second reason… we need you to lead a Joint Task Force against the Batarians on Torfan."

"Why me, if I may ask?"

"You're the Navy's best operative, Commander." Petrovsky responded. "And despite us being in a state of war, Chancellor Stratton has been quite clear that our primary objective is seeing our people returned home, along with the other slaves on the Batarian worlds."

" _All_ of the Batarian slaves?" Shepard asked.

"Indeed, even Council species." Hackett responded. "After we sweep Torfan and get the slaves off-world, Stratton wants us to make an example out of that world. He wants it bombarded to dust."

"How far in are we pushing?" Shepard asked.

"Kar'shan" Hackett said. "Under the order of Chancellor Stratton, the Batarian Government is to be removed."

XXXXX

Sam stepped through the door, making her way into the sterile, white room that served as one of the UHE's larger medical clinics on Mindoir. It was absolutely filled with doctors, civilians, and even a fair few Marines that were patrolling the halls. The building itself was a pre-fab, but it was massive. It was easily the size of her entire dorm _building_ back at Oxford.

It wasn't until she heard the Marine sitting behind the desk clear his throat that she finally realized that she had been gawking. She hated when she did that. "Can I help you, ma'am?" The Marine, a second lieutenant, asked.

"Oh…erm… I'm looking for Priya and William Traynor? I think they're medics here?" Sam asked, drawing a cocked eyebrow from the Marine.

"Is there a specific reason?" He asked.

"Family… I'm their daughter." Sam answered, earning a nod from the Marine.

The Lieutenant scanned through his computer terminal for a moment, obviously looking through the large manifest of patients that were currently in the clinic. He seemed to read over a small collection of paragraphs and charts for a few moments, finally looking up to the comms specialist again. "Alright, it looks like their patients are either completely recovered or stable enough, you're free to go see them. Just be glad it's visiting hours." The Lieutenant added with a small grin. "They're in Staff Room A21, on this floor. Take the hallway, sixth door on your left."

"Thank you." Sam responded, giving a small smile and nod as she turned to make her way through the halls.

Sam couldn't help herself when she shot a quick glance through a few of the windows into the rooms. She was, thankfully, not in the intensive care unit. The worst she saw out of the three glass panes she looked through was a young girl missing her eye, but she had a bandage covering the lost organ. She appeared to be absentmindedly playing a game on a small tablet, her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth in concentration. Despite the injury, despite what had happened, this little girl seemed relatively unfazed. It brought a small smile to Sam's face. This smile remained on her face, all the way until her hand touched the holographic interface that would open the staff room. As the door's hydraulics whirred and hissed, she felt her stomach tighten in fear, fear that her parents might be harmed. Sure, it was irrational, but it was unshakable.

She stepped through, seeing a group of six people sitting in the room. Many of them looked tired and ragged, obviously having been tending to their patients ever since the Batarian raid a mere 13 hours ago. All of the eyes in the room turned to look at her, none of them expecting to see a UHE Naval Uniform in the room. Two of the occupants of this small room were surprised for a very different reason. "Sam!" An obviously older man with slight streams of grey running through his otherwise fully-black head of hair shouted out in surprise. He stood up from his seat in a flash, along with a woman with notably darker skin and brown hair.

"Dad!" Sam said, a broad smile crossing her face. Before she knew it, she was wrapped in a hug from the taller and paler man. Try as she might, she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks as she returned the hug.

"What're you doing here?!" The darker-skinned woman asked, still carrying the slightly refined tone of an English accent. Between both parents, Sam would have a hard time deciding which she was closer with. She had learned most of her mannerisms and attitude from her mother, but her father had introduced her to chess, classic films, and music that she grew to love.

"Making sure you're okay…" Sam said, choking back a sniffle as her father released her from his bear hug. "Communications weren't going through."

"We're fine…" William said, placing his hands on his daughter's shoulder. "It'll take a bit more than a slaver raid to take down a colony, even one as small as Mindoir. What about you…?"

"We were just on a routine mission patrolling the fringes of our space…" Sam answered. "Really quiet up until yesterday. I'm just glad the two of you are alright. How's Liz?" Sam asked, making reference to her younger sister.

"She's doing great." Priya answered, smiling. "She looks a lot like you. Even wants to go Navy, just like her older sister." Sam couldn't help but grin.

Sam spent the better part of an hour catching up with her parents, with the four other doctors and nurses in the room politely excusing themselves to allow the family a bit more private of a conversation. Sam was ecstatic to know that her parents were unharmed, that her little sister was happy, albeit scared by the attack. Sam decided to make a rather bold choice, a surprise for her, and ask about the attack.

"So… what happened?" Sam asked. "Down here, I mean."

William sighed. "The Batarians came down in force… hundreds of them. They overwhelmed the small peacekeeping force that the colony has, then just ran around grabbing whatever Human suited them. Women and children mostly…"

"It's horrid…" Priya added. "I've heard that the Batarians implant a chip in the base of your skull to keep you in line…" Sam shuddered at the thought.

Before Sam could change the subject, deciding that something as morbid as this isn't the most pleasant thing to discuss, she heard the sound of boots clacking against the tiled floor of the clinic. She turned around, surprised to see the door opening. In a quick motion, Annalise stepped into the room, causing Sam to stand upright and give her a salute, simply for posterity's sake in front of her parents. She didn't want them to assume she was fraternizing with her superior. "Commander Shepard!" Sam said, surprising even herself with her confidence.

Shepard, on the other hand, had other ideas in mind. "At ease, Sam." She said, waving off the salute. "You're on leave, technically."

"Of course, Commander." Sam said, remaining as professional as possible. She did her best to ignore the cocked eyebrow from Shepard.

"You can drop the formalities, Sam." Shepard said. "You know me."

"Alright, Sh- Annalise." Sam corrected herself, earning a smile from the Commander.

Annalise turned to see the two parents of Sam, her father giving a cocked eyebrow and her mother giving a wry smile. Shepard removed her cap, giving both a smile. "Mister and Missus Traynor, I'm Commander Annalise Shepard, UHE Navy Special Operations."

"A pleasure to finally meet you, Commander." William said, shaking Shepard's hand. "I've heard quite a bit about you, from the news and Sam."

"Really?" Shepard asked, giving Sam a quick sideways glance. "I suppose I've made an impression, then."

"You have…" William answered, giving Shepard's hand a firm squeeze before letting her go. "You do some fine work. It's an honor to meet a soldier like yourself."

"Thank you, sir." Annalise responded, giving a polite nod.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Commander." Priya said. "I honestly couldn't ask for my daughter to be in better hands."

"I appreciate that, ma'am." Annalise responded, smiling.

"How did the meeting go, Annalise?" Sam asked, catching the Commander's attention.

The redhead let out a sigh. "Hackett's reassigned the _Normandy_. We're to regroup with the 1st Fleet at Arcturus Station in two days and launch an invasion into Batarian Space." Sam's eyes went wide at the concept of _another_ conflict with the Council. "We're getting our people back."

"What about the Council?" Sam asked. "They can't support an invasion of one of their client races."

"Well…" Shepard said with a small grin. "The Council decided to let them fend for themselves, seeing as the Batarians have been enslaving the Council species for longer than the Empire has existed. It's one-on-one this time."

"When are we heading out?" Sam asked.

"Later today." Shepard answered. "I've actually got to report back to The _Normandy_ , but I figured that I'd let you know in person, since I was a two minute walk away. Consider yourself on leave for the rest of the day; just be sure to report back to the ship by 1800 hours tonight."

"Yes, Ma'am." Sam said, nodding.

"See you on-board, Traynor." Shepard said, giving a curt nod. "It was a pleasure to meet both of you." She said, giving William and Priya another smile.

"You too, Commander." Priya answered, her own smile on her face.

With that, Shepard excused herself, heading back outside and making her way back to the shuttle to her ship. That left Sam and her parents in the room. She turned back to her parents, both of whom were wearing small smiles. Sam felt a familiar feeling in her gut when she saw her mother start speaking. "You're on a first-name basis with your commander?" Priya asked. "She must be pretty informal."

"She is… she doesn't let me call her anything else whenever I'm off-duty." Sam answered. "She does that with everyone, though."

"She certainly does seem more… lenient than most officers." William commented. "Especially for N7."

Sam shrugged, but immediately blushed when her mother spoke up again. "And she certainly is cute."

"Wha-ah… er…" Sam tried, only causing her mother's smile to widen, ear-to-ear. "I have no idea what you're talking about…"

Sam's mother chuckled. "Oh, please. You tried to be so professional in that e-mail. I could tell you were positively _gushing_ over that girl. Now I see why, those green eyes and red hair."

Sam blushed, her face turning beet-red. Sam simply muttered under her breath. "I mean…" She nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

"She has you on a first-name basis..." Priya began, causing Sam to blush an even deeper shade of red. She wanted to speak up, but her words were nowhere to be found. "She invited you to her quarters when you both had free time, she played chess with you, she let you come with her down here, _and_ she even visited you when you were in the infirmary." Sam _really_ regretted being so transparent with her parents. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she might like you."

Sam turned a shade of red that rivaled even Mindoir's native Red Dwarf Star. "Mum!" Traynor said, earning a laugh from her father.

XXXXX

Over the small Batarian colony of Torfan sat the local defense fleet. Due to its proximity to the UHE-Hegemony border, the planet's defenses were almost equal to that of a Batarian core world. There were two hundred vessels in orbit, along with over two hundred orbital defense platforms, sixteen orbital shipyards, and a very large patrol of fighters. The orbit of the planet was peaceful, but massive energy spikes on the edge of the system showed that it was all about to change.

From the empty void of space, two hundred UHE Warships slammed back into sub-light speeds. One hundred ships were a mix of Heavy Cruiser and Battlecruiser, with twenty Carriers, forty Frigates, thirty Destroyers, _Normandy_ , _Imperator_ , _Retribution_ , and seven of the UHE Navy's newest warships, the Medusa-Class ECM Cruiser. These new cruisers had dozens of antennas jutting from their hull, and were almost completely unarmed. Their role was simple, complete hostile communications blackout.

Before the Batarians had even registered the existence of the UHE Fleet on their sensors, they fired. Hundreds of Plasma Lances tore through the vacuum of space, finding their mark on the hulls of Batarian ships. Their kinetic barriers held for a time, but the sheer strength of the Human weapons split anything smaller than a Cruiser clean in half.

A massive majority of the Batarian cruisers were crippled by the strike, but some managed to fire off their weapons towards the UHE ships. The Wolf-Class Destroyers and Merlin-Class Frigates stood up to a single shot from a Council mass accelerator, but multiple shots punched clean through the shields and struck their thin armor. Twelve frigates and six destroyers were either destroyed outright or crippled. A single dreadnought managed to punch through the armor and shielding of a Battlecruiser, setting it ablaze as its missile racks detonated, but the dreadnought responsible was quickly silenced by a searing Long-Pulse Ion Beam from the bow of _Imperator._

The Batarian ODPs pounded away at the UHE ships, managing to cripple two Battlecruisers and knock out four Heavy Cruisers, but the swarm of Falcon Fighters that left their hangers aboard the carriers quickly proved too much for the orbital defenses. Another volley from the UHE fleet proved to be the remaining Batarian defenders' undoing, leaving the Humans with complete orbital superiority. Luckily for the Batarians, Cobalt Lance would lie dormant within _Imperator_ … for now.

The UHE fleet dispatched the _Retribution¸_ six Battlecruisers, and twelve Heavy Cruisers to secure the Relay while the remainder of the fleet oriented itself over Torfan, and unleashed Hell.

XXXXX

Shepard and her team landed on the surface of Torfan, their Heavy Transport Shuttle coming under massive amounts of ground-based flak fire. The rear bay door slid open, leaving a ramp that allowed the M5 IFV, four N7 Operatives, and six Marines to disembark. They stepped onto a large, sandy field, scorched by the engines of the Stalwart Dropship that carried them. Hundreds of Falcon fighters streaked by overhead, their metallic airframes screaming through the air as they dropped ordinance on defending Batarian lines.

The group from Shepard's dropship quickly fell in with the rest of the first wave, with hundreds of Marines, dozens of Strykers, and dozens of M5s slowly advancing through the fields of sand. Batarian Hydra rockets flew through the air, striking the front of one of the lead M5s, setting it aflame as the internal ammunition racks went up. One of the Stryker MBTs swept its 20mm chaingun across the Batarian lines in retribution.

Shepard and her team advanced in formation along with the armored division, which slowly but steadily crept its way towards Torfan's central settlement and the seat of its local government. The UHE's mission went against their normal doctrine, but it was deemed a necessity. All UHE military assets were to go door-to-door, sweeping the settlements and searching for any Human or Council Species slaves. It was dangerous work, but necessary work.

After nearly half an hour of advancing under heavy gunfire, the UHE 5th Armored Division finally punched a hole into the main settlement. It was quite clear that the city was nowhere near evacuated, given the fact that there were still civilians scattering for cover as the Human soldiers advanced on their home.

Several hundred sounds, resembling reentry booms, sounded off from overhead, indicating that the UHE Stormtroopers had begun their operation. They were to drop directly into the Batarian Military bases and secure them, cutting Batarian supply lines from the inside. As Shepard glanced up, it seemed more like Armageddon than anything else, with hundreds of flaming streaks making their way towards the surface of the planet.

As the fighting progressed, it got bloodier and bloodier. The dirty tactics of the Batarians had the fighting locked in a stalemate for almost a full twelve hours. Their use of car bombs, IEDs, even some suicide bombings had bogged down the fighting. Shepard and her team decided to use the stagnant fighting to their advantage.

Making use of their optical camouflage, the N7 team crept through the splintered Batarian defenses and managed to make their way deeper into the city. Sticking to the shadows and the dead of night, they made their way towards their primary objective, The Hegemony Building.

After a few close-calls with Batarian patrols and snipers, they had arrived in the central square of the settlement. Marking the square was a trio of UHE Atmospheric Entry Pods, all of them surrounded by dead Humans and Batarians alike. This was the spot of a failed Deep Strike, as the Batarians were too well-entrenched for a mere fifteen Marines to cause any significant damage. The square now, however, seemed to be almost completely devoid of defenses. Most of the planetary defenders were at the front lines, with very few reserves remaining for the Batarians.

Shepard, still cloaked, gave the order to make their way towards the government building. As they entered, the reception area seemed ransacked and devoid of life. Glass items were shattered, computer terminals were smashed, and there was were numerous signs of a quick and hasty evacuation. Shepard made the quick hand signal for "up", and motioned to the nearby staircase.

As the N7 operatives climbed the levels of the building, they noticed a trend. The further up they got, the more intact the building became. It was quite clear that this building, despite serving as the main command facility, was abysmally defended. Once they reached the fifth floor, a Batarian soldier was unlucky enough to be walking the halls just as Shepard climbed to the top of the staircase. He quickly found a blade embedded in his throat. As they scoured this floor of the building, they came to realize that it did not function as an office space, but rather as a living space for a political dignitary.

A few more guards were found patrolling the halls, but they were quickly dispatched by Lawson. As they neared the far end of the halls, they were met by a very ornate-looking wooden door, some shouting audible from the other end. Shepard listened intently for a moment, ordering her team to hold their positions.

"They came out of nowhere, my Lord." A rather weak voice explained.

"We had three hours of advance warning and they still utterly annihilated us…" A deeper, much more intimidating voice responded. "Will we be receiving reinforcements from other areas of Hegemony space?"

"I do not believe so… before we lost communications with the rest of the Hegemony, we received several probes from the Alpha Relay, all of them sending out signals that are only to be played during an attack on our space. We believe that the Humans opened up four other fronts, at least."

"Damnit!" The deeper voice roared, followed by a quiet shriek and a crash. "How can we be expected to beat these Humans? They obliterated our entire fleet with next to no losses on their side!"

Shepard made a few quick motions to her team, all of them fanning out to find other points of entry. She continued listening in on the heated conversation. "Their technology is far more advanced than we thought… their directed energy weapons cleave through our ships like they're made of paper."

"And our Mass Accelerators can't even breach the shields of their ships unless we concentrate the entire fleet's fire on one ship!"

"What the hell was the Hegemony thinking?!" The deeper voice shouted out again. "All this for a few hundred humans?!"

One by one, the ready pings of Shepard's team flared up, signaling that they were ready to insert. Shepard dropped her cloak, stood upright, sent out her own ping, and reached into her combat harness. She quietly attached the small shaped charge to the door's center, priming it and stepping back. After five seconds, the plastic explosives on the adhesive charge detonated, sending the door splintering inwards.

Shepard activated her armor's thermal optics, spotting four heat signatures in the room. One of the four did not look even remotely Batarian, looking far more slender. Without a moment's hesitation, Shepard propelled herself forward. She crashed into one of the armored Batarians, sending the alien crashing to the floor. The other two stunned Batarians attempted to recover, but she was far faster.

She quickly drew her XP-88 Coilgun handgun, slotting a round into the leg of a Batarian wearing a far more formal set of attire, obviously her target. The other Batarian guard attempted to activate his Omni-Blade and run the N7 operative through with it. In a blinding display of agility and speed, Shepard sidestepped the Batarian's jab, grabbing his arm. She wrenching his arm back, cracking the bones within and earning a scream from the soldier. She sent a powerful kick into the side of his calf, earning another snap. As the alien tumbled to the floor, he had a coilgun round splatter his grey matter on the floor, the vicious exit wound ripping the flesh from bone.

A few moments later, the rest of her team stepped in through another door, slotting new magazines into their coilguns. "Area secured, Commander." Lawson said. "Four hostiles neutralized."

"Two neutralized." Shepard responded. "Target apprehended." She nodded to the Batarian, clutching his leg on the ground. She turned her head to the fourth figure that occupied the room, spotting a full-body suit with a glass faceplate. She recognized the suit and body features as those belonging to a Quarian. It was an obvious female, given the frame. "Quarian slave secured." The Quarian looked oblivious to the conversation at hand, sticking to the small corner of the room that she was glued to.

"Orders, Commander?" Lawson asked, eyeing the Batarian governor.

"Contact Admiral Hackett, ask him what we need done with this freak." Shepard responded, gesturing with her pistol to the governor. "Alenko and Williams, secure the exits and cover this room."

"Aye Ma'am!" Everyone said, moving to carry out their orders.

Shepard turned to see the Quarian, still glued to the corner in a defensive stance. It was clear that she was trained, to some degree, in combat, but she was unarmed. Shepard reattached her PDW to her hip, holding her hands out in a neutral gesture as she sent the command for her translator to activate. "You're alright…" Shepard said, noticeably surprising the Quarian.

The Quarian seemed to regard the heavily armored figure before her for a moment, suddenly speaking up, shakily. "A-are you some kind of Asari Commando?" She asked.

Shepard cocked an eyebrow beneath her helmet. She thought for a moment, the implication of that question suddenly hitting her like a truck. "How long have you been here?" She asked.

"I lost track after ten months." The Quarian responded. Suddenly, her question made sense. Thanks to the amount of time she had been indentured, it was quite likely that she had no idea what Humans were.

"Shit…" Shepard muttered. "Well, we're not Asari."

"Then what are you?!" The Quarian asked, obviously still feeling threatened by the suit of faceless armor.

"My name is Commander Annalise Shepard, United Human Imperial Navy." Shepard said. "I, and my teammates, are all Humans."

"Humans?" The Quarian asked. "I've never heard of you!"

"We're newcomers to the Galaxy, we've only just made contact with the Council." Shepard explained.

"Newcomers?" The Quarian asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Freeing the slaves on this planet, and getting our people back." Shepard responded. "The Batarians launched a slave raid on one of our colonies, and we're here to get them back." As if to accent Shepard's point, the sound of several bombs landing somewhere in the settlement sounded off, followed by the sound of a Stryker's main cannon firing. The lines had been broken.

"I couldn't understand them, they disabled most of my suit's functions…" The Quarian explained. "What's going on?"

"The UHE 1st through 3rd armies are advancing on this building." Shepard explained. "We're sweeping this colony, freeing everyone, and leaving after we make the Four-Eyes pay."

"This planet… Torfan, I think, is one of the most defended Batarian worlds." The Quarian wondered. "How long have you been fighting for it?"

"About sixteen hours now." Shepard said. Shepard could see the Quarian's slightly luminescent eyes widen, even behind the mask.

"You've pushed this far in under a day?!" The Quarian asked.

"Look, as much as I'd love to stay here and answer questions, we need to return to the lines." Shepard said. "We're still a full kilometer behind the front, and I'm not big on the idea of staying here. Are there anymore slaves on this floor?"

"In the Governor's bedroom…" The Quarian responded. "I think there's three more."

Shepard nodded. She turned to Lawson. "Word from Hackett?"

Lawson turned to Shepard, removing her hand from the side of her helmet. "I believe I'm quoting him directly when I say: 'kill him, we're here to make an example'."

"Fine with me." Shepard said, drawing her PDW. In a quick motion, the Batarian Planetary Governor's skull splintered from the hypervelocity slug's impact, painting the floor red with blood and brains. The Quarian jumped at the quickness of the Human soldier.

Shepard turned back to the stunned Quarian, reattaching her pistol to her hip. "Stay here." She ordered. Shepard stepped over towards the unopened door in the room, assuming it to be the Governor's quarters. She pressed the holographic button, causing the door to slide open. She was greeted by a sight that made her boil with anger.

There were three other beings in the room, all of them Asari and completely naked. Two were a bright blue, while one was a shade of indigo. The two blue Asari seemed quite young, obviously maidens, but the indigo Asari was an obvious matron. Seeing as all three of them were chained incredibly close to the bed, Shepard didn't need much more to deduce their situation. The three Asari seemed stunned as the Human operative stepped into the room. The older matron seemed relieved when she saw Shepard. "Thank the Goddess!" She said, sighing. "You're Commandos!"

"We're not affiliated with the Asari Republics." Shepard said, causing the three Asari to deflate slightly. "We're operatives with the United Human Empire, and we're here to free you."

 _"_ _You're_ Humans? _"_ One of the two blue maidens asked. "You… you look so much like Asari."

"Indeed we do." Shepard responded, stepping forward. "Are the three of you able to walk?" She asked.

"Yes, we are." The matron said, nodding.

"Good." With that, Shepard walked over to the two Maidens, seeing as they were closest together. The two younger Asari were huddled close together, hugging closer together. "I'm going to remove these binds, hold still." As Shepard stepped behind the Asari to remove their metallic collars, she noticed something sickening. It was a small scar, resting just beneath the Asari crests. It was obviously surgical in nature, and all three of the Asari shared them. "What are these scars?" Shepard asked.

"Control devices of some kind…" The matron responded. "They inhibit our biotics, and they're designed to kill us if we try to escape."

"Shit…" Shepard muttered. She pressed a hand to the side of her helmet, connecting with Admiral Hackett. "Admiral Hackett, the Batarians seem to implant their slaves with control devices to keep them reigned in, how should we proceed?"

"I've just been made aware of the devices." Hackett responded. "Stay with them, the front isn't far from you and the Batarians are in full retreat. Field medics already have a signal to render the devices inert and make removal easier."

"Understood, sir." Shepard responded.

"Who have you found?" Hackett asked.

"Three Asari, two maidens and one matron." Shepard explained. "We've also found a Quarian. I'm not sure if she has a chip, but it looks like she's been in here since the Second Contact War."

"Damn…" Hackett muttered. "Hold tight, secure that building. I'm redirecting a group of Stormtroopers to assist."

"Copy that." Shepard said, cutting the communication.

XXXXX

Shepard stepped into the main room of the Batarian Government headquarters, which had been converted into a field hospital. There were people of all species being tended to by UHE field medics. There were a few Asari, Turians, Humans, Drell, even a Volus being tended to.

The remaining resistance on Tofran had been utterly crushed, with Humanity securing the entire colony in under 36 hours. Small bands of Batarian resistance were still present in the wilderness, but they wouldn't be of any concern. As Shepard stepped into the field hospital, she spotted her mark: The Quarian from the other day. She made her way over to the Quarian, who was being tended to by a Human medic. "Anything to report, Corpsman?" Shepard asked.

"Negative, Commander." The Medic responded. "Despite the weaker immune system, she appears as healthy as one could expect, given the circumstances."

"Good to hear." Shepard responded. "Do you mind if I ask her a few questions?"

"Not at all, Commander." The Medic said, excusing himself to assist a colleague in tending to an Asari's control device.

Shepard, still in her armor, looked to the Quarian, who had calmed noticeably. "How're you feeling?" Shepard asked.

"I'm fine." The Quarian responded. "Thank you for helping me."

"Of course." Shepard responded, reaching up to remove her helmet. She let her shoulder-length red hair fall, holding the helmet in the crook of her arm. "I just have a few questions that the Admiral wanted me to ask." The Quarian nodded in response. "We've been informed that your name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is." Tali responded, nodding.

"And we've been made aware that you've been here for nearly a full galactic standard year, meaning that you have very minimal knowledge on happenings out in the Galaxy right now. Do you know anything about current events? Anything at all?"

"The last thing I heard about was that the Turians were expanding into the Exodus Cluster." Tali responded. "That was about a year ago."

Shepard nodded. "And the UHE has been informed that you're the daughter to Quarian Admiral Zorah of the Migrant Fleet… is that correct?"

Tali nodded again. "Yes, it is."

"How did you come to be enslaved by the Batarians?" Shepard asked.

Tali seemed to tense up for a moment. "I… I was on my pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood. I was on a small Salarian colony out in the Traverse, working on shuttles, when we were hit by a Batarian slaver group. I've been here ever since."

"Okay…" Shepard said. "That's all I got… did you have any questions for me?"

"What next?" Tali asked. "What happens to all of us?" She gestured to the people taking up cots in the field hospital.

"You're all going home." Shepard said, smiling. "We're preparing the Carriers in orbit to bring the freed Council Species back to the Citadel."

"What about the Quarians?" Tali asked.

"Our Chancellor, Chancellor Stratton, is trying to get the last known location of the Migrant fleet. We'll be bringing you guys straight home."

XXXXX

Over the Batarian Homeworld of Kar'Shan, well over 700 gravitational anomalies flared up on the planetary sensors. The massive Human armada slipped back into sub-light speeds, meeting the Batarian fleet in orbit. The Batarians were numbered about even with the Human fleet, but they simply lacked the firepower that the Humans could lay down. This bold tactical move would serve to show the species of the Milky Way why Humanity was not to be stepped on.

In a single, stunning moment, the orbit of Kar'Shan was lit up by thousands of plasma lances. The Human fleet, in all of its glory, began slugging their way through the orbital defenses. This bold move showed the galaxy exactly what fate awaited them if they crossed the Human species: Much like the Batarians, they would fall.

 **Codex Updated:**

 **Medusa-Class ECM Cruiser: Another example of highly specialized warships put into the employ of the Imperial Navy. Lacking an offensive armament, they are designed to cut communications and prevent hostile fleet coordination. A group of six of these ships has powerful enough electronic countermeasures to sever the communications of an entire star system, if properly spaced out.**

 **XP-88 Personal Defense Coilgun: The primary issue handgun of the Imperial Armed Forces. It is the most widely-issued weapon in the history of the UHE, with every member of the Military, down to the crew of supply ships all the way up to Admirals, carrying this pistol. It fires a small .40 caliber slug, has a magazine capacity of 15 rounds, and has a muzzle velocity of MACH-8.**

 **UHE Stormtroopers: The most iconic and well-known special forces unit in the entirety of the UHE Military. Technically a department of the Marine Corps, they are orbital drop troopers that make use of the Atmospheric Insertion Pods, dropping in groups of five. They specialize in heavy weapons usage, offensive tactics, offensive harassment, and line-breaking tactics. They are commonly referred to as "Falling Angels" by their allies following the Battle of Torfan and their instrumental role in freeing Batarian Slaves.**

 **Operation COBALT LANCE: [REDACTED]**

 **A/N:**

 **And here we have another chapter, complete with dying Batarians and another character native to the ME canon.**

 **And don't worry, this isn't the last you'll see of Torfan. I'd be remiss if I didn't give such an iconic part of ME lore a proper sendoff.**

 **Until next time,**

 **-TallYapflip**


	9. Chapter 9: Recreation

**Chapter 9: Recreation**

The orbit of Kar'Shan was a graveyard. Hundreds and hundreds of Batarian ships were simply lifeless husks orbiting the planet. Orbital constructs were charred and broken, shattered remains of orbital defenses drifted through space, silent.

On the ground, Human forces had been mobilized in full strength. There were six million UHE army personnel on the surface of Kar'Shan, ordered to crush the Batarian resistance with extreme prejudice. As the front lines were established and pushed inwards, hundreds of thousands of slaves were freed by the advancing Human armies. Luckily, no Humans were indentured on Kar'Shan, but the other races were not nearly as lucky.

There was a constant stream of re-purposed Petrovsky-Class Carriers that were jumping in and out of Kar'Shan's orbit. Each of them ferried thousands of slaves seeking refuge to the newer Human colony of Shanxi, where they would receive medical attention before being transferred over to the Citadel Council's jurisdiction.

Word of the crushing Human victory over Torfan quickly reached the rest of the galaxy through spread rumor, leaked video footage, and public statements from the UHE Government. After seeing the destruction wrought by the Humans, they gained a new title. They were no longer simply the powerful, ominous species tucked away in the Orion Arm; they were now the Butchers of Torfan, and the Butchers of Torfan had a reputation to uphold.

After weeks of intensive evacuation of slaves and prisoners of war, the UHE officially deemed Kar'Shan pacified. Thousands of Plasma Lances seared the resisting cities to glass, boiling the metallic frames of buildings and charring the surface.

On the ground, a Human Representative was in talks with the leader of an anti-Hegemony resistance force that had been active for several decades. These small bands of fighters were fighting to remove the Hegemony from power, and put in place a more just and righteous government. In a bold political maneuver, Humanity aligned themselves with these bands of fighters, made up of Batarians and non-Batarians alike.

In the Capital of Kar'Shan, the largest city which remained under the iron grip of the UHE 10th Army, Admiral Hannah Shepard was overseeing the creation of a new Batarian State: The Batarian Republic. The Hegemony, dissolved with its authoritarian leader awaiting execution on Earth, was no more.

XXXXX

Stratton stepped onto the Presidium, joined by his two Cerberus Agents. The large atrium, as usual, was filled with members of the press attempting to bombard him with questions. C-Sec, who Stratton had become quite familiar and somewhat friendly with, was holding them at bay. He crossed the distance between the elevator and the Council's podiums quickly, a small smile on his face.

Awaiting the Human Chancellor was Tevos, Sparatus, and Mesu. Tevos gave Stratton a small nod as he approached, with the others remaining a bit more stoic. "Chancellor Stratton, thank you for coming." Tevos said.

"Of course." Stratton replied with a nod.

"Do you mind explaining the fifteen Carriers that accompanied your vessel, Chancellor?" Sparatus asked, somewhat suspicious in his tone. "You've given the defense fleet quite the scare."

"Oh, my apologies." Stratton said with a smile. "These Carriers are each carrying several thousand of the Citadel Races, recovered from the Batarian worlds."

"Excuse me… what?" Tevos asked. "What do you mean by 'recovered'?"

"They are slaves, and we set them free." Stratton responded as if it were the simplest fact in the galaxy. "I figured that they would prefer to live amongst their own, rather than staying on Shanxi as refugees."

"How… how many are there?" Mesu asked, absolutely stunned.

"We've freed just under three hundred thousand slaves, with most of them still on Shanxi. This would be the first of many groups."

"I… I honestly don't know what to say." Tevos said. "I suppose all we can do is offer our thanks."

"No thanks are necessary." Stratton replied, waving his hand. "No one should live as a slave. There are a few things I need to discuss with you, however. I didn't just come here to return your people."

"And what would those points of discussion be?" Tevos asked.

"Twofold, actually." Stratton said. "The first would be the matter of the new Batarian government."

"I'm sorry, but the war has prevented a lot of information from leaving their space. Would you mind elaborating?" Tevos asked.

"Of course. The Batarian Hegemony's leadership has been removed from power, and we have helped a republican group gain power. We've begun helping in setting up a new government, which has come to be called The Batarian Republic. It's confined to Kar'Shan for now, but that will be changing over the coming months as we help get their communications grid back online. One of their envoys will be here soon, actually. She can explain it far better than I could."

"I look forward to meeting her." Tevos said, smiling. "And I must say, I was not expecting this news… have the Humans and Batarians come to a ceasefire?"

"There are still minor pockets of resistance, but they're miniscule at best. Most of Batarian space has been secured, and we've begun drafting up a treaty with the new Republic."

"What are some of the points that have come about?" Mesu asked.

"Well, the Batarians are to secede Torfan and its three neighboring systems in the Skyllian Verge to the UHE, and in return the UHE will provide economic assistance in getting the Republic on its feet. Other than that, the treaty is still in the works."

"You said you had another matter than required discussion?" Tevos asked.

"Yes… this one is a bit of a strange request." Stratton admitted. "During our campaign on Torfan, we recovered many members of the Quarian species, roughly three thousand to be more specific. Because of this, I was hoping to obtain the last-known location of the Migrant Fleet, in the hopes of bringing their people home."

"We could just as easily offer them shuttles back to the Fleet." Sparatus replied.

"Could you do it with the amount of Turian, Asari, and Salarian refugees that will be passing through the Citadel?" Stratton asked. "The UHE simply bringing these people back to their homes would be far quicker. It would only require a pair of ships to make the trip, and it would take no longer than three days."

"I believe that can be arranged." Tevos replied, giving Sparatus a sideways glance. "What ships would make the trip?"

"A single Carrier, and a single frigate acting as military escort." Stratton explained.

"Easily done." Tevos said, smiling. "I will have the Migrant Fleet's last-known location forwarded to you."

"Thank you, Councilor Tevos." Stratton said, nodding. "Is there anything you wished to discuss with me?"

XXXXX

"Admiral Hackett!" Shepard said, saluting as Hackett's holographic image appeared on the _Normandy_ 's primary QEC.

"At ease, Commander." Hackett responded. "The UHE _Watch on the Rhine_ is ready to make the jump to the Hawking Eta system."

" _Normandy_ is prepared to jump, sir."

"Excellent." Hackett said. "How're your Quarian guests finding your ship?"

"Tali'Zorah seems fascinated by it, her Migrant Fleet Marine escort seems… very professional." Shepard explained.

"Well, just be sure to keep them on Deck 3." Hackett said. "See you in Hawking Eta, Commander. Hackett out." Hackett's holographic form fizzled out as the communication closed out.

Shepard sighed as she stepped out of the comms room. After a quick walk in the CIC and ride on the elevator, she was on the Crew Deck. As she stepped onto Deck 3, she spotted a pair of Marines guarding the room designated for Life Support, with both of them saluting as she walked out of the elevator. She waved the gesture off, allowing the Marines to stand back at ease. As she rounded the corner into the mess hall, she spotted the two Quarians sitting at the center mess table. Tali'Zorah had insisted that this Migrant Fleet Marine, Kal'Reegar, accompany her aboard the _Normandy_. Shepard was unsure why, but she didn't mind.

As Shepard approached, the two suit-clad Quarians turned to look at her. "You know you aren't confined to _just_ the Mess Hall, right?" Shepard asked, giving a small smile.

"Sorry, Ma'am." Reegar replied. "Just following your request."

"I requested that you stay on Deck 3." Shepard corrected, still smirking. She took a seat at the table across from the two Quarians. "How're you guys finding the ship?"

"It's amazing!" Tali blurted out, ensuring that Shepard's smirk remained. "The fact that you don't use Eezo is incredible! I can't believe the size of your ships!"

Shepard shrugged. "Sol didn't have any Eezo, and any we did have after the Council attacked was used in reactors on Earth. We needed another method, so we made Void Drives."

"How do you power something so huge?" Tali asked.

"Are you familiar with Neutron Stars?" Shepard asked, earning a nod from Tali. "Well, the particle known as Neutronium decays much like a radioactive isotope, but it releases far more energy. We decided to make reactors out of that."

"How did nobody else think of that?" Reegar asked.

"Mostly because there aren't any Neutron Stars within Eezo-Jump range of the Relay network." Shepard responded, shrugging. "They're the rarest stars in the known universe, especially the ones that don't act as Pulsars. The UHE only has one in its borders, in the Europa System."

"The Europa System?" Tali asked. "That doesn't show up on any of our star charts."

"Because it's one of our colonies out of the way of the Relays." Shepard responded. "It's a trinary star system with two Yellow Giant stars, each of them locked in an orbit around a Neutron Star."

"That sounds amazing…" Tali commented.

"It is pretty cool." Shepard agreed. "I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of the Migrant Fleet. That's amazing to me."

Reegar shrugged. "We're survivors, we do whatever we can."

"That's a good trait to have." Shepard said, nodding. "Humans empathize with you more than you might think."

"I can imagine." Tali said. "I can't believe that the Council did something like that to you when you didn't even have a single colony!"

"Eh, look where it's got us." Shepard gestured around. "It wasn't _all_ bad. You guys, on the other hand… It's honestly deplorable that they severed all ties with the Quarians and just let the Migrant Fleet drift through space."

"We make do." Tali said, shrugging.

Shepard heard the hydraulics of a door hissing as they opened, spotting two of her squadmates heading for the Port-Side Observation Deck, accompanied by a Marine. The three of them were laughing rather jovially, earning a cocked eyebrow from the Commander, seeing as it was 2 A.M. Earth Standard. She turned back to the two Quarians, who were also looking on, slightly confused. "Feel free to make yourselves at home." Shepard said, standing up. "We've got a full day at Jump Speed before we arrive at Hawking Eta."

"Will do, ma'am." Reegar said, nodding.

"Thank you again, Commander." Tali said, her eyes seeming to narrow slightly, representing a smile.

"Of course." Shepard said, excusing herself.

As she strolled towards the Port-Side Observation Deck, she passed by Lawson's quarters. She pressed the holographic interface, causing the door to slide open. She spotted the raven-haired operative sitting at her desk, typing up reports. "Yes, Commander?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of the computer terminal.

"The deck's yours for the next few hours." Shepard said. "Try not to cause a mutiny."

"Hardy har har, Annalise." Miranda said, making a final keystroke and closing out her terminal.

"You have your orders, Lieutenant-Commander." Annalise responded with a smirk. She quickly ducked out of the room, looking to avoid the snarky wrath of her Australian First Officer.

She quickly made her way towards the Port-Side Observation Deck, pressing the holographic interface. As the door slid open, she was greeted by thumping base indicative of electronic. She spotted Alenko and Williams sitting at the small poker table, joined by Engineer Ken Donnelly and James Vega, commander of _Normandy_ 's Marine detachment. They were all holding a hand of cards, drinks joining them.

Shepard saw a familiar Comms Specialist sitting on the small sofa that was in the center of the room. She smiled slightly as the Specialist, seeing her sitting there, reading something on a datapad. "Hey Shepard!" Alenko called out. "Come join in! We got room for one more!"

"I learned my lesson after last time, Alenko." Shepard responded, smiling. "Lost six hundred creds after that game."

"Oh, I'm sorry miss 'I haven't played poker in years, go easy on me!'" Alenko responded, earning a laugh from the rest of the table.

Shepard shook her head in exasperation as she sat down on the couch. "Hey, Sam." Shepard said, smiling.

"Hello, Annalise." Sam responded, putting her datapad down.

"In the mood to play?" Annalise asked. "Maybe I can actually win this time."

"You're on!" Sam said, smiling. She opened up the application on her Datatool, placing the small wrist-mounted computer on the table in front of the sofa. From the small screen, a holographic chessboard was projected. Sam turned the table so the white pieces were facing Shepard, and the black pieces were facing her.

Shepard smiled, and moved her centermost pawn forward two spaces. "You're going down, Samantha."

"We'll see." Sam replied, confidently.

Annalise smirked as Sam moved a pawn forward to block her own. As Sam made her move, she and Annalise started having a small discussion. "So, Annalise. What do you think's going to happen with the Quarians?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Annalise responded, sliding a Knight forward. "Having one of their Admiral's daughters on board will probably be enough for them to trust us a bit, but I've heard rumors that Hackett's going to make an offer to the Quarians. He's been pretty tight-lipped about it, though."

"Do you think it'll be an alliance?" Sam asked, countering the Knight's move with a Bishop.

"Probably…" Annalise admitted. "There really isn't anything else we could offer. Looking forward to this wrapping up, though."

"And why's that?" Sam asked.

"We're getting extended shore leave on Earth while _Normandy_ gets a few refits. New sensors, new main weapons, new comms systems, more advanced Void Drive. Navy's bringing her up to spec with the other Normandy-Classes in the Fleet."

"Ooh, shore leave sounds fun." Sam said, moving a Knight.

Shepard and Traynor carried on, despite the occasional joke slung at them from the poker table. Shepard, in all of her normal wittiness, fired back.

XXXXX

"Dropping from FTL in three… two… one…" Joker said, Shepard and Tali standing just behind him. Had Shepard not been told what to expect upon arrival, she would've been far more surprised than she already was. Standing before the _Normandy_ was a fleet of over fifty thousand vessels. The vessels were obviously protecting three central ships, which seemed like giant tuning forks with a massive metal sphere in the fork of the vessel. "Well… shit." Joker broke the momentary silence.

Joker's attention was immediately grabbed by a flurry of hails from the Quarian vessels. Upon Tali's direction, he answered the hail from one of the three largest ships in the fleet, the _Rayya_. The hail played over the bridge's systems. "Unidentified vessel, you are entering the space occupied by the Quarian Migrant Fleet. State your intentions or turn away immediately."

"Tali." Shepard beckoned for Tali to step towards the communications console, pointing out the important modules and directing her.

Once Joker responded to the hail from the Migrant Fleet, Tali spoke through the _Normandy_ 's communications array. "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

After a moment of silence, a series of quick words made their way across the void of space, finding their way into the comms array of the _Normandy_. "Welcome back, Tali'Zorah."

"Requesting permission to dock with the _Rayya?_ "Tali asked. "Also requesting a full quarantine crew and breathing equipment, this vessel is not clean."

"Permission granted, do not deviate from the projected flight path that we are transmitting now." The voice responded, followed by Joker's terminal receiving a packet of data outlining the exact path they are to take in order to dock with the Quarian Liveship.

"Head on in, Joker." Shepard ordered. "I'd rather not piss off the fifty thousand guns that are pointed at us right now."

"True enough, Shepard. Following projected flight path." Joker responded, setting the vessel on its way. After a few moments of rather tense flight, past some rather large guns of the Quarian Heavy Fleet, they arrived at their docking tube with the Liveship.

Shepard sighed as she picked her helmet up off of the chair next to her, pulling it over her head. "Lawson, you have the helm!" She shouted over her shoulder. "Williams, with me!"

"Aye, Ma'am!" Williams responded, jogging over to Shepard, Kal'Reegar in tow.

Shepard, Williams, Reegar, and Tali stepped into the nearby airlock, which connected to the _Rayya_ 's docking tube. Shepard kept her rifle slung across her back, in its collapsed state. Her pistol was attached to her hip, also in a collapsed state.

After a quick cycling of the airlock, the blast door on the Quarian end slid open, revealing nothing short of a fully armed platoon of Migrant Fleet Marines. One Quarian in particular stood slightly ahead of the others. "Tali…" He said, sounding rather relieved.

"Father!" Tali said, running over and embracing the older Quarian male. At this, the Marines seemed to relax.

Shepard let a small smile cross her face as she saw Tali reunited with her father. "Where have you been… We haven't gotten any updates on your pilgrimage in almost a year!"

"The Batarians… captured me and Kal, but these Humans helped us." Tali explained.

"I honestly don't know what to think, Human…" The Quarian Admiral commented, releasing his daughter. "On one hand, your kind brought the entire galaxy to its knees… on the other, you've saved my daughter. I suppose that all I can do is thank you."

"Of course, but that isn't all." Shepard responded. "In about an hour, a UHE carrier will be arriving in this system. It has about a thousand Quarians aboard, all recovered from Batarian space." At her words, the entire room seemed stunned.

"How… how did you recover our people from Batarian space?" Rael'Zorah asked.

"We just finished our war against the Batarian Hegemony, we're in the process of returning the other species to their homes as well." Shepard explained. "And I'm sure that you have more questions, and Admiral Hackett can answer them far better than I ever could. He'll be on the carrier."

"I believe the Admiralty Board and the Conclave would like to speak with him as well, I'll call for a meeting." The Admiral responded, nodding. "Please, follow me."

XXXXX

After a short wait, Admiral Hackett's carrier arrived. It was quickly given permission to start dispatching shuttles to return the Quarians to their home ships. Hackett took a shuttle to the _Rayya_ , where he stood in a meeting with the Quarian Admiralty Board, the members of the Conclave sitting behind him as he discussed with the Admirals. "It's a pleasure to finally make the acquaintance of a Human without the threat of war." Han'Gerrel commented, making reference to the quick, bloodless first contact between Humanity and the Quarians. A Human scout fleet made a jump into Salarian space, and found themselves staring down the largest fleet in the galaxy. After a quick series of hails, the Human ships jumped away.

"Indeed it is." Hackett agreed, nodding.

"Might I ask why your species is here?" Daro'Xen asked, seeming to scan over Hackett's environmental suit with clinical eyes. "I doubt you're here to simply return our people out of the kindness of your hearts."

"Believe it or not, Humanity does empathize with the Quarians to a certain extent." Hackett said, shrugging. "Both of our species were betrayed by the Council, to a certain measure. We were simply lucky enough to be able to salvage our homeworld."

"I suppose you are right." Rael'Zorah agreed. "When you arrived, you said you had something to discuss?"

"Yes, there is something rather important to discuss." Hackett nodded his head, clasping his hands behind his back. "The Chancellor has been… informed of the rather undesirable situation that the Quarian people are currently stuck with. He's given me the ability to make an offer, one that could greatly benefit your species."

"What would that be?" Shala'Raan asked, previously remaining rather quiet.

"Unlimited and free access to Human space, namely our systems that connect to the Relay Network." Hackett explained. "This would include the ability to establish colonies and live among the Human populations of the worlds in these systems. You'd also have free trade arrangements with the UHE, along with a… personal gift from the Chancellor."

"That's… an incredible offer." Gerrel said. "It's… it would remove all of our worries about resources and movement if we could pass through Human space. There has to be a few strings attached."

"Beyond the requirement for any Quarian in Human space or on a Human world to follow the laws of the UHE, there is only one… the UHE would like your assistance with understanding Element Zero-based technologies more intimately."

"That's… surprising, to say the least." Xen added. "Your technology is well beyond our own, why would you need to understand Eezo tech?"

"There's bound to be military and civilian applications for Element Zero within our current technological framework, we simply want to understand it more quickly. Element Zero-based ships have certain advantages over our own. They're more maneuverable, cheaper to manufacture, simpler to automate, and require much less energy. Eezo weapons systems also lack ammunition limitations that our current Coilguns have to deal with." Hackett explained. "Our species has only had ready access to Element Zero for just over a year, as our home system is what your kind would refer to as a 'dry system'. That's part of the reason we developed alternate methods of FTL, that and Humanity's seemingly endless arrogance in the face of impossible odds."

"Endless arrogance?" Zorah asked.

"We're a species that rose up from the ashes after being pounded into the stone age by a Type-2 Civilization. We unified under a single flag, forged an empire out of a small corner of space, and made ourselves one of two galactic superpowers. Our economy is matched only by the combined Council economies, our military unrivaled in size and skill, our technology far beyond the reach of the Council. All of this done in under a thousand years, just after we were almost bombed into extinction as we were taking our first steps towards the stars. A healthy amount of luck was mixed in there, as well."

"What makes your tech so special? Why is it out of reach for the Council species?" Xen asked.

"Simple… power requirements." Hackett shrugged. "Eezo Cores could never hope to produce enough power to charge a Void Drive, or to create working energy weapons. The closest thing are GARDIAN lasers, and even those are just glorified magnifying glasses compared to a Plasma Lance or Long-Pulse Ion Beam."

"We're getting off-track!" Gerrel declared. "Admiral Hackett just made an offer for us to have unlimited access to their space, at least the space we can reach, and settle on their worlds should we like…"

"And a decision is left up to the Conclave." Raan reminded.

"Take all of the time you need to come to a decision, the offer will always be on the table should you need it." Hackett said, nodding.

"And it is greatly appreciated, Admiral." Zorah said, nodding his head. "Just as all of us are grateful for the safe return of our people from Batarian space." Ther were mumurs of agreement from the spectators. "With your permission, we would like to be able to send a diplomatic envoy to Earth, once we have our answer for you."

"Of course." Hackett said, nodding.

XXXXX

Stratton signed off on the treaty effectively bringing an end to the Human-Batarian War. He had already done all of the PR work required, and elected to simply sign the treaty from the comfort of his own office. He looked up from his desk, hearing the metallic door slide open, followed by the sound of dress shoes clacking against tile floor. "How're you doing, Jack?" He asked, standing up to shake hands with the illusive leader of Cerberus.

"Excellent, given the situation." Harper responded, shaking the Chancellor's hand. Like always, he smelled of tobacco and whiskey.

"You had something to report to me personally?" Stratton asked, taking a seat back in his chair, gesturing for Harper to have a seat.

Harper sat down, letting out a sigh. "Indeed… it's an issue that's far more delicate than usual, even for me." He handed over a datapad, one that carried some of the strongest encryption software available in the known galaxy. A self-modifying code, designed to prevent even AIs from tapping into the information it guarded.

On the Chancellor's touch, it activated. It showed mountains of telemetric data, picture files, and reports. The first file, which Stratton quickly opened up, was certainly strange to say the least. It depicted a shattered, broken object, looking not unlike a crawfish. It looked to be at least a kilometer long, compared to the facility it was housed in, and was made of a strange looking purple metal alloy. "What am I looking at here?" He asked.

"The Batarian Hegemony's most closely-guarded secret." Harper said, a grim smile on his face. "The Leviathan of Dis. It's a space-capable vessel, dating around a billion years old." Stratton nearly choked on his own breath. "On top of that… it's a synthetic starship, not designed to carry a crew."

"A living starship?" Stratton asked, not quite sure what he was hearing.

"Living, and genetically engineered." Harper corrected. "It appears to be a mix of synthetic and organic, with the synthetic part obviously being larger. It appears that it harbors an organic core, not unlike a brain."

"Jesus…" Stratton muttered.

"And that's not all, look at the file marked 'ALPHA SYSTEM'." Harper said.

Stratton opened the aforementioned file, finding a rather disturbing image awaiting him. It was a strange, almost monolithic construct made of a similar alloy to the Leviathan. It appeared to be four arms coming together to form a central core, and it glowed a dull blue at the seams. "What the hell is this?"

"That's just the thing… we have no goddamned idea." Harper said. "We do know one thing… it's made out of an almost identical alloy to the Leviathan, dating in at around six hundred million years old. Stranger yet, it appears to show almost… telepathic properties."

"Telepathy?" Stratton asked.

"Our scientists that have come into contact with it all mention similar occurrences… whispered voices in the back of their minds, feelings of light-headedness when around the artifact, memory loss, periods of 'black-outs', intense paranoia about the artifact, hallucinations, et. cetera." Harper said. At the Chancellor's sudden change in facial expression, he was quick in his response. "We've managed to activate some kind of containment field that the Batarians had around it, that seemed to remove the effects that the artifact has on the mind."

"Do… you think they are made by the same beings?" Stratton asked.

"I think that whatever this Leviathan is, wound up making this artifact, for whatever reason." Harper said, shrugging. "It's impossible to tell, since we've had such a limited amount of time to study it, but I think it's designed to watch over developing species."

"What makes you say that?"

"It was discovered in the asteroid belt around Kar'Shan's native star. Why else would it be located around a Garden World? On top of that, the Leviathan was also discovered in a neighboring system, and it looks almost identical in construction."

"Christ Almighty…" Stratton muttered. "A precursor civilization?"

"There'd be a hell of a lot more ruins like this if they _were_ a precursor… I think they're still around." Harper added.

"Alright… divert a group of Cerberus' best scientists to uncover more of these artifacts. I want to understand exactly what we could be facing in the future."

"Already done." Harper said, nodding.


	10. Chapter 10: The Ties

**Chapter 10: The Ties**

Annalise stood on the orbital tether's passenger car that connected the Phoenix Orbital Shipyard to the North American continent. Joining her in the passenger car was Tali, Rael'Zorah and his Admiralty compatriots, Shepard's ground team, and the entirety of the _Normandy_ 's CIC Crew. The crew would all come down in waves, and allow the ship to undergo refits. The Quarian delegation joined the _Normandy_ crew on the tether ride, seeing as they would be arriving in the Imperium, the Capital of the UHE. The city stood on the site of Washington D.C., and it payed homage to the great city that served as its predecessor through its architecture, street names, and locations of monuments and buildings.

As the passenger car moved at blinding speeds towards the surface, a strange object drifted in orbit around Earth. It was one of the few free-floating artificial satellites that the planet had. It was a strange object, appearing to be constructed of modular tubes with solar panels jutting off of the sides. The Humans aboard the lift recognized the object as the International Space Station, or at least most of it. Aboard the station was a monument, a time capsule of sorts. It was designed to carry the names of every Human astronaut and cosmonaut, dating all the way back to Yuri Gagarin, all the way to the Humans that perished aboard the _original_ ISS when the Council attacked Earth. This Station was an echo, a replacement to remind Humanity where their future was, despite the foes they would face when they got there. It was launched into orbit not long after the reestablishment of government on Earth.

The Quarians were glued to the viewport of the passenger cabin, seeing the borderline utopian surface of Earth grow closer. It was a gorgeous mix of silver architecture, mixed with the lush greenery of the North American flora. The N7 Team had seen this view dozens of times, but that didn't make it any less awe-inspiring. Eight billion people lived on Earth, and it was nothing short of a masterpiece of terraforming technology, Human ingenuity, and sheer dumb luck that it looked this beautiful.

After a thirty minute ride from Phoenix Station to Imperium, the passenger car set down on the surface of Earth, slowly equalizing the pressure between the two vastly different environments before allowing the door to slide open. Upon opening, the massive blast door revealed a monument to Mankind's strength. The Imperium Ground Anchor Station was massive, eight hundred meters in diameter and served a similar function to an old airport. There were security checkpoints, waiting rooms, shops, and restaurants. All of this was closed down, however, due to the party that was greeting the arrivals.

Chancellor Stratton himself, along with an entourage of four Imperial Honor Guards clad in their grey dress uniforms, stood awaiting the arrival of the Quarian Admiralty. As the Quarians stepped out of the tether's car, the Honor Guardsmen stood at attention, their boots clicking together in perfect, practiced unison.

Stratton stepped forward, a genuine smile on his face. "Welcome to Earth, my name is Chancellor Haddock Stratton of the UHE, and it's an honor to welcome the Quarian Admiralty to the homeworld of my species."

"Thank you for inviting us, Chancellor." Shala'Raan responded, bowing her head slightly. "Your planet is a wonder to behold."

"Built by the collective will of the Human species, risen from the ashes of war and destitution to become something greater." Stratton recited with a smile. "From sand to dust, and dust to the Earth you see today." Stratton seemed to scan over the Quarians for a moment. "My apologies, but it was my understanding that there were five Admirals, not six."

"This is Tali'Zorah, my daughter." Rael responded, gesturing to Tali. "She insisted on coming along."

"Well, I'm happy to have you here, Miss Zorah." Stratton turned to the four N7 operatives and the crew of the _Normandy_ that stood around them. "And it's also a privilege to have the decorated crew of the _Normandy_ back home as well. You've all done some excellent work out there, and you're all receiving commendations." Stratton looked directly at Shepard, giving her a slight grin. "Excellent work, Commander Shepard. You've done Humanity proud."

"Thank you, sir." Shepard responded, giving a quick salute.

"Chancellor, we've considered your offer-" Gerrel began, but he found himself stopped by Stratton.

"Please, the Tether's anchor is hardly a place to discuss this. If you'll join me, the Legislature Building would be a far better place to talk."

"Before we go, I would like to say that we have accepted your offer." Raan responded, earning a smile from Stratton.

"That's excellent news." Stratton said, nodding. "I'd imagine that we have quite a few details to iron out… how long can you be away from the Migrant Fleet?"

"We can be away for as long as the discussion requires, but if it runs too long, we would like to request the ability to move the Flotilla into the Sol System, so we can remain in easier contact with our people and abate some of the fears they may have."

"Of course, all of that can be discussed in the Legislature. I'll have accommodations prepared for your extended stay, should it be required."

"Of course." Shala'Raan responded.

"Would Tali'Zorah be permitted to attend?" Rael asked.

"I'm afraid not." Stratton responded. "The Imperial Legislature is not open to the general public during diplomatic hearings, and I'm afraid that I'm not at liberty to make exceptions to that rule. There is plenty to keep her busy here in Imperium, however. It's the largest city on the planet, after all."

"I'm not exactly comfortable with Tali wandering an alien city alone." Rael responded.

"She wouldn't be alone in the slightest, I could have a Guard assigned to accompany her." Stratton responded.

"That would be best." Rael responded. "Could Kal'Reegar go with them?"

"Of course." Stratton responded. The Chancellor turned to look to one of his Guards. "Mister Jarvi, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not, sir." The Guard, now known as Jarvi, responded with a nod.

"This is Colonel Nikolai Jarvi, UHE Imperial Honor Guard." Stratton explained. "He can accompany you anywhere in the city."

"A pleasure to meet you." Jarvi said, nodding.

"Likewise." Tali responded.

"Now, shall we be off?" Stratton asked, earning nods of approval from the Quarian delegation. "Excellent. If you'll follow me, there's a motorcade just outside the Anchor that will take is to the Legislature." With that, Stratton and the Admiralty headed off.

Shepard sighed, seeing the Chancellor leave with the Quarians in tow. She turned to look at the other occupants of the passenger car, spotting Sam caught like a deer in headlights. "You alright, Sam?" Shepard asked, eyebrow cocked slightly.

"Did… did The Chancellor just give me a commendation?" Sam managed to squeak out, still shaken from having the, arguably, most powerful man in the galaxy a mere ten feet from her.

XXXXX

"How can you be so casual around him?!" Sam asked, walking down the streets of Imperium with Shepard's team, Tali, and Jarvi. The Honor Guard was staying a bit further back, however.

Shepard shrugged "I've interacted with him enough to not freak out every time I see him."

Sam nodded in understanding, following behind the N7 Officer. Eventually, she spoke up again. "Are you sure about this, Annalise?" She asked. "I can stay on-station in orbit, it's no big deal."

Shepard scoffed. "No friend of mine's staying on a space station's barracks, not when we're already in my home town." She responded, definitively. "Ash, Miranda, and Kaidan are already staying with me anyways. One extra won't be a problem."

"You all stay with Shepard?" Sam asked, looking to the rest of her team. She didn't know any of them very well, with the exception of Ashley. They had interacted on more than one occasion over drinks in the Port-side observation deck.

"It's been a bit of a tradition ever since we started our N7 Training." Shepard shrugged. "Every time we had leave on Earth, we'd stay at my place, since Miranda and I are the only two Earth-born in our team." Sam nodded in understanding.

"It's also really fun." Kaidan added. "No shooting, no armor, no ranks, just four idiots spending shore leave well."

"Sam makes that five idiots, now." Ashley reminded, smirking to the Comms Specialist.

"Awfully quiet back there, Tali." Shepard said, craning her neck to glance at the Quarian.

Tali was far too busy taking in the massive skyline of Imperium, ogling the sleek machines driving down the road, and looking to every human that passed by her. A few of the Humans in question didn't even spare her a passing glance, more concerned with their own business, but a few turned to look back, some stared, a few smiled, and a young child waved to the tall Quarian. There were a few that wore scowls as she passed, which she fully expected given the Human view of the rest of the galaxy, but they made up a surprising minority. Shepard's words shook her out of her stupor, however. "S-Sorry, Shepard. Just taking in everything."

"It is a lot to take in." Shepard nodded in agreement.

"I should probably take you to your accommodations, Miss Zorah." Jarvi spoke up.

"You're right… I should drop off my things." Tali nodded. "I hope I'll see you again, Shepard."

"Same goes for you, Tali." Shepard responded, smiling. "Have fun."

XXXXX

Sam awkwardly followed the four N7 that were making their way down a suburban street. This was a surprisingly affluent area, she never would have expected an N7 operative to live in such a place. They eventually stopped in front of a rather sizable two storied home, the metal painted a silver hue to match the rest of the city off in the distance. Shepard led the way up the small walkway, smirking slightly as she pressed on a small holographic display on the side of the entryway. A soft sound came from the inside of the house, a doorbell. Sam smiled slightly at the minor, esoteric device.

After a few moments, the front door slid open, revealing a shorter young woman, looking no older than seventeen years. She had shoulder-length black hair and light makeup on her face. Sam could immediately see the resemblance, this woman was _definitely_ related to Shepard. The black-haired girl stood, slack-jawed for a moment, before letting out a soft squeal. She jumped up, wrapping her arms around the taller redhead. "Annie! You're home!" She cheered, earning a laugh from Ashley and Kaidan. Even Miranda cracked a small smile.

Shepard let out a laugh as she embraced the notably shorter girl, lifting her off the ground slightly. After a few moments, she let the girl down. Sam could vaguely make out the moisture gathering at the younger girl's eyes. She quickly wiped it away, beaming a smile at Shepard. "I missed you so much, Jane." Shepard responded, still wearing the smile on her face. "How've you and Mom been?"

"Great!" Jane responded. "She's still off-world, but she'll be back tomorrow night." She looked behind the N7 fireteam leader, spotting the four others. "Hey Kaidan, Ash, Miri!" She beamed, waving.

"Hello." Miranda responded, giving the smallest of smiles.

"Hey, kiddo." Ashley said, stepping forward and giving her a quick hug. "Good to see you again."

"Hey, Jane." Kaidan said with a friendly smile, returning her wave.

The bright blue eyes of Jane turned to look at Sam, the comms specialist finding them to be purely inquisitive. "I don't know you…" she mused, earning a smirk from Shepard. Jane stuck her hand out. "Jane Shepard, Annie's sister. Nice to meet you."

Sam smiled, shaking the younger woman's hand. "Samantha Traynor, _Normandy_ crew. A pleasure meeting you, Jane."

The younger Shepard sister beamed a smile to her. "Come in, I can't wait to catch up with you guys!"

Sam followed everyone inside, deciding to try and make herself seem as small as possible. Despite Shepard's constant insistence that she was invited, she still felt to be intruding on a ritual that the four N7 shared. It felt weird, but she still felt welcome. The inside of the home was very… suburban. It was rather sparsely decorated, with some paintings of Earthen landscapes on the walls, a carpeted living room with all of the modern UHE amenities, and kitchen on the other side of the house. It wasn't quite as grandiose as Sam expected the Earth homes to be, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It felt homely, and that was what really mattered.

Jane smiled. "I'll be right back, I've gotta let Mom know you're all here." With that, the younger Shepard sister darted off down a hallway, disappearing.

"Ahh… civvies again!" Ashley cheered, earning an earnest smile from the rest of the group.

XXXXX

Stratton smiled as he led the way into a large conference room in the Imperial Legislature. The mahogany wood of the table shined against the fluorescent lights on the high ceiling. The Greco-Roman inspired architecture was almost ethereal and monolithic to the small Quarian group that followed behind him. The marble of the building gleamed in the light of Sol, which was not funneling in through the many windows in the room. "Please, have a seat." Stratton beckoned, gesturing to the many seats around the table. He, naturally, took his at the head of the table.

The Quarian delegation took seats relatively close to the Chancellor, eventually settling in enough for Stratton to begin. "Excellent… now that we've all settled in, we can begin." Stratton leaned forward, locking his fingers together on the wood of the table. "Allow me to preface this by saying that Humanity welcomes the Quarians to Earth, and I hope that these talks benefit both of our peoples." As the Quarians nodded in agreement and acknowledgement, Stratton continued. "Humanity is a newcomer to the galactic stage, albeit a very powerful one. Due to our… conflict with the Council almost two years ago, we have very few allies in the Galaxy. We, in all honesty, have none."

"Humanity looks to the Quarians, not only to ally ourselves with you, but to help you." Stratton looked around the table. "I would like to discuss the terms of an alliance, both military and civilian, between the Quarian Migrant Fleet and the UHE."

The Quarians all seemed to look to one another, regarding the Chancellor's offer for a moment. Rael'Zorah eventually spoke up. "Chancellor… we greatly appreciate the offer, but there are many risks that I'm sure you can understand. Our species is on the brink of extinction, with almost all of us confined to the Migrant Fleet. Another concern would be the political backlash from the Council regarding our joining in an alliance with Humanity."

"The same Council that, to this day, refuses to help your species find a world to settle?" Stratton asked, his voice neutral. "The Empire would be able to assist in finding a colonizable world, one suited to the Quarian people. The terms of the alliance I have in mind would allow for free and unbridled access of Human Space to the flotilla."

"Even if you found a world that suited us, our immune systems would remain an obstacle for colonization." Admiral Xen answered.

"If you would allow us, Human scientists could repair the damage done to your immune systems." Stratton countered. "We are the only government in the entire galaxy that makes extensive use of genetic therapies and cybertechnology. If we had permission from you, of course, I guarantee that your immune systems could be bolstered to pre-fleet levels within three months."

"Perhaps what they are trying to say…" Gerrel began, sighing. "Is that we wish to return to Rannoch."

"I'm afraid that there is quite little I can do to help you there." Stratton said. "Despite the UHE having complete military access to all of the Batarian Republic's space, as per our treaty, we would be unable to move a large military force into the Perseus Veil without provoking a war. And I can guarantee you that you would not survive long if the Migrant Fleet invaded Rannoch alone. This alliance would allow you to prosper on a new world, with Human technological assistance and immune system boosts. That could open up numerous gates for the Quarian people to prosper as they never have before."

"What would become of the Migrant Fleet, if we were to agree?" Raan asked.

"That would be left entirely up to you." Stratton said, shrugging. "Should you decide to keep the fleet, we would be willing to transfer command of a pair of captured Turian Dreadnoughts over to you."

The Quarians seemed floored. "How do you have Turian Dreadnoughts?" Xen asked.

"Captured during the initial engagements of the Second Contact War." Stratton answered. "They're woefully outclassed by our own ships, so we merely studied them. They have since been collecting dust in orbit around Titan."

"You would just give them to us?" Rael asked.

"Do we have a use for inferior equipment?" Stratton asked.

"I suppose not, it is still strange." Gerrel responded.

"For every year those Dreadnoughts sit there, I could build three cruisers with the amount of money it takes to dock those vessels at Prometheus Station." Stratton responded. "You would be helping me if you took them. Naturally, you might want to change the paint." Stratton joked.

"I think the heavy fleet could benefit from the addition." Shala'Raan admitted. "We will consider it."

"You mentioned a new world for the Quarian people?" Rael asked. "You would be willing to allow the Quarians to settle in your space?"

"Humanity is not bound by the Relay Network. We have the entirety of the Milky Way galaxy at our ready access. Space is not a limitation that the UHE has in the same sense that the Council does. Our largest worry is overextension of our borders."

"This seems too good to be true, Chancellor." Gerrel said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I have trouble believing you would go to these lengths out of the kindness of your heart."

"I understand that three centuries adrift without a world to call your own has made some of you cynical, but I am indeed doing this, not because of any political play, but because it's what my conscience tells me is right." Stratton explained, mirroring Gerrel's gesture.

"We do not wish to question your motives, Chancellor." Raan said, quickly glaring Gerrel down. "It's simply a lot to take in."

"I understand…" Stratton said, nodding. "If you'd like, there is a world on the fringes of UHE Space near the tip of the Orion Arm. I believe its ecology would suit the Quarian people quite well, given that the native plant and animal life is Dextro-based. You can have Migrant Fleet scientists accompany a research vessel out to that world."

"That would be best." Rael responded, nodding. "I can have a small team sent with your vessel, and we can come to a decision when they return with their findings."

"I'll notify the fleets, they can be underway immediately." Stratton smiled, typing away on the Datatool on his wrist. "I believe you'll like what they find."

XXXXX

"Of course, Mister L… wake up slowly, but don't move yet. You will need time to recover… and welcome back." A gravelly voice said, in perfect clarity, into long dormant ears. "My name is Voight-Kampff, I am your hard-headed shrink. My genetic team handled your damaged DNA… you are as good as new."

L simply laid dormant, knowing the words spoken to him, recognizing them as existing, but not responding. "I will help you adjust to how things changed… keep you up to date. Now… tell me the last thing you remember."

A trembling breath escaped the lips of L, breath passing from his lungs for the first time in centuries. Blue eyes eventually opened, locking with the steely grey of Voight-Kampff's. The shrink looked almost ethereal, slicked-back white hair and a white goatee. He wore a sterile white coat and trousers, his eyes gazing onto L with passive, intellectual care. L seemed to stare at the shrink for hours, finally remembering the question that was asked of him. He wracked his brain for the words, the syllables eventually making their way out. "I remember dying… fading into black." His own voice sounded almost foreign… melodic. "I remember dreaming of a second chance…" At Voight-Kampff's nodding, he continued. "I was worn out by fighting… the unrelenting pain... I felt this weary longing for a different fate."

"Excellent…" Voight-Kampff said, giving a soft smile.

"Everything feels… foreign." L responded. "Like I don't belong…"

"That's because you have been given that different fate you so desired." The shrink responded, as if it were the simplest fact in the universe. "This is the year 3003, and you are on Mars."

L froze, feeling those words slam into his chest like the weight of the world crashing down. That can't be true… it simply couldn't. It was now that L decided to finally look around the room. It was a sterile white room, with a comfortable couch that he happened to be lying on. There was a large, wall-spanning window, giving him a view he thought he would never see… the stars. "Or rather… above Mars." The shrink said, smirking slightly. "This is your new real now, Mister L."

"What awaits me out there?" Lucassen asked, the memories of his name finally flooding back to him. He took the moniker of Mister L at face value from the shrink, but remembered himself as Arjen Lucassen.

"The stars are far larger than we thought… far more dense, too." The shrink explained. "In your 950 year slumber, a lot has changed."

"I can see…" Lucassen nodded in understanding. "Will this world accept me?"

"I am here to help you adjust, Mister L… they will accept you because they will not think you any different." Voight-Kampff smiled. "We should get started." Without warning, the hologram that made up the doctor's form fizzled out, leaving only a small blinking chip on the table within arms-reach of Lucassen. He stood, stunned, but eventually worked up the courage to reach out and pull the small electronic chip closer. As he inspected the smooth surface, he spotted a small screen with words staring back at him. The script was so simple, so elegant, and it called out. " _Plug in, it's time to begin._ " Lucassen sat up, the back of his head feeling a bit heavier than he remembered. He reached back, running a finger across the crown of his skull. Under his long blonde hair, he felt cool metal, his fingers jumping away from the implant.

After hearing a small bleep come from the chip, he found a new set of words across the screen. " _Do not be afraid, Mister L… all will make sense. Plug in, and face the music._ " Lucassen took in a deep breath, faced with no other option. He slotted the chip into the metallic implant on the base of his skull, and a surge of energy coursed through every nerve ending in his body. A shiver ran the length of his spine as two minds linked together. "Excellent, Mister L." Voight-Kampff said, his voice bouncing around inside Lucassen's skull. "We have much to discuss, please… sit back and let me explain."

 **Codex Updated:**

 **Imperium: The capital city of the Human Empire, sitting on the bones of Washington D.C. The city is the largest on planet Earth, housing a population of 40 million people. It is where the Imperial Legislature, Chancellorship, and the Senatorial Advocacy resides.**

 **Imperial Legislature: A bicameral parliamentary legislature based in Imperium. It has 2,000 seats with the representatives elected by a popular vote. Planets are given representation based on population. There are four main political parties in the Legislature.**

 **Senatorial Advocacy: The Chancellor's "cabinet" of advisors. Each Senatorial Advocate hails from a different UHE world, and advises the Chancellor on a specific topic. The Advocates are appointed by the Legislature.**

 **I.S.S. Memorial Station: A re-creation of the old International Space Station. Following the First Contact War, the I.S.S. was destroyed by the Council Fleets in orbit, killing the nine Human astronauts on board. Soon after the creation of the first governments following the Contact War, the I.S.S. Memorial Station was put into the exact same orbit that its predecessor station inhabited. Originally, it housed scientific personnel, but as Human technology became more and more advanced, the station was eventually de-crewed and left as a reminder of Humanity's past and future among the stars.**

 **Imperial Honor Guards: The personal guards of all UHE Government personnel. Honor Guards are chosen from all branches of the UHE Military, and are given highly specialized training and equipment. Often seen in their ornate dress uniforms or their intricate combat armor, they are a small force designed to protect dignitaries and guard embassies. Even the Human Embassy on the Citadel has a staff of 40 Imperial Honor Guards.**

 **A/N:**

 **Took a little longer on this update, and I apologize for that. Summer classes started up, and I've been busy with work. There's a decent rhythm going now, so I'm back into the swing of things. I also got an Xbox One and Dragon Age: Inquisition, so that's been taking up a lot of my free time.**

 **I'm glad everyone enjoys this story, and I really can't believe how much this has blown up over the past few weeks. You're all awesome. As always, I appreciate the reviews, favs, and follows, and don't be afraid to PM me if you have anything you wanted to ask, I do my best to reply to every PM I get.**

 **P.S. I will love whoever gets the reference in this chapter forever and ever.**

 **As always,**

 **-TallYapflip**


	11. Chapter 11: The Homefront

**Chapter 11: The Homefront**

Samantha awoke rather slowly, sitting upright from her bed as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. As expected, she found herself in the guest bedroom that Shepard had insisted she take up residence in for her stay. Honestly, it was a rather bland room, painted white with almost entirely white and black furniture.

In her still-groggy state, Sam glanced over to the clock on the nightstand, stunned to find it reading "12:44 P.M." She cleared her head with a quick shake, fully waking herself up, and standing upright. She let out a sigh of content as her spine let out a satisfying crack, and made her way towards the attached bathroom. On her way, she reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of shorts, a plain white tank top, and clean undergarments.

If there was one thing she wasn't expecting from Earth, it was how damned hot it was. The climate on the Normandy was always a rather pleasant 25 Celsius with low humidity, it was perfect for her, being from one of the more temperate colonies. Oxford was cold most of the time, while it was quite clear that Imperium was almost perpetually hot and humid. She always hated summertime, and the fact that it was a solid 37 Celsius _plus_ seventy five percent humidity was pure suffering. According to Jane and Annalise, it was strange for it to get _this damned hot_ , but that did little to make her more comfortable. A month into her shore leave in Imperium, and she already wanted July to go right the hell away and make way for Autumn.

Pushing aside her weather-driven loathing, she placed her clothing on the counter and pulled her size-too-large Oxford t-shirt over her head and let it fall to the floor. She stepped out of her underwear, kicking it over towards the general area of her discarded shirt, and stepped into the shower. She always loved showers, especially ones that weren't on a starship where all of the warm water would already be used up by the time she got to it. She quickly finished up in the shower, drying herself off with a towel, and wrapped it around her torso.

Sam quickly dropped the towel onto the floor, dressing herself in the clothes she grabbed a few minutes earlier. She ran a hand through her hair, straightening it out. She let out a quick sigh as she stepped back into the guest room, placing her discarded clothes into a semi-neat pile next to her unpacked bag. After quickly remaking the bed, she made her way out of the room and into the hallway.

As Sam made her way into the living room, she spotted a few of the people that had become surprisingly friendly and welcoming towards her. Annalise's little sister, Jane, was casually sitting sideways on an armchair, her fingers dancing along the holographic keyboard and trackpad being projected from her Datatool. Alenko was sitting in another armchair, across the room from Jane, reading over something on his own personal Datatool.

Ashley was sitting on a longer sofa, her Datapad projecting a similar interface as Jane's as he fingers tapped away at the hologram. Miranda was leaned against Ashley, her head resting against the slightly shorter girl's shoulder as she watched the wall-mounted screen with a small smile on her face. Sam was absolutely floored when she learned that Miranda and Ashley had been together since they were fourteen. She was even more surprised at how well they managed to keep it relatively quiet. According to Shepard, both of them agreed that it would be kept professional whenever they were deployed, simply for the sake of professionalism. The UHE had no distinct regulations against fraternization in the Navy, which was especially true for the N7, but the pair had apparently decided to keep it very professional, so much so that Sam didn't even know until they had spent a day in Imperium.

According to Shepard, relationships between N7 Operatives were not uncommon by any means. They grew up together, trained together, fought together, and were closer than most people related by blood. It only made sense that a fair number would grow intimate with each other.

Sam's attention was grabbed by Ashley. "Well, look who's finally up."

"Hey everyone." Sam said, giving an awkward smile. "What're you guys doing?"

"Ash is cheating." Jane said, turning to glare at the brunette. Ashley simply gave a smug smile in response.

Sam walked over, looking at the projection screen on the wall. A virtual depiction of massively armored people stomping around, firing their massive guns into various green-skinned aliens playing out before her. It was clear that the two were playing a strategy game, since Ashley was constructing a second base, and Jane was commanding a large force of Orks. "Warhammer?" Sam asked.

"Hell yeah." Ashley said, smiling. "Greenskins don't have shit on the Emperor's Legions."

"Stupid Ultramarines…" Jane commented. "Goddamn Smurfs…"

"Nerds…" Alenko commended, chuckling.

Sam let out a laugh. "What, don't like games?"

Kaidan shrugged. "Never got into 'em. I'd usually just watch whenever Shepard and Ash played. They tried to get me into some shooter, didn't really work for me."

"That's 'cause you sucked." Ashley rebutted, smugness seeping through her words.

After a quick scoff from Kaiden, Sam spoke up. "Where's Shepard?"

"Out back." Jane responded, nodding towards the back door.

"Have fun, guys." Sam said, walking towards the back door, opening it with a quick touch to the holographic keypad.

As she stepped outside, into the humid heat of Imperium's open air, she was greeted by the rather large backyard that the estate sat in front of. There was a large lawn surrounded by gravel. Off to the side was a pool, surrounded by tile, with a few padded lounge chairs facing the pool. Sitting in one of the lounge chairs was a sight that almost made Sam's breath hitch in her throat.

Sam spotted Annalise, lying back on the chair. She had a pair of sunglasses on her face, and was wearing a pure white two-piece swimsuit. Her crimson hair was left to fall down to her shoulders, and her attention seemed to be taken up by the datapad in her hand. Sam wasn't quite sure how she could be that pale if she did this.

Sam took a quick breath to compose herself, and made her way over. "Hey, Annalise." Sam said.

Annalise let a soft smile cross her face as she placed the datapad aside. "Hey Sam, what's up?"

"Nothing, really… just woke up a few minutes ago." Sam admitted, taking a seat on a nearby chair. It took all of her willpower not to stare when Shepard rolled over, leaning on her elbow to look at Sam. "W-What're you doing?"

Annalise gave the smallest of grins. "Just relaxing. And reading some news reports from the colonies."

"Anything interesting?" Sam asked.

"We found ruins on Eden Prime."

"Ruins?" Sam asked. "What do you mean?"

"Those uhh… Prometheans? Protheans? Whatever, that the Council bases basically all of their tech off of? We found some of their ruins."

"Really?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yep. Haven't found much, apparently." Annalise explained. "Empty ruins, trinkets, and a bunch of garbled junk data. Apparently, the Council's asking us to let them study the ruins once we're finished with them."

"Did the Chancellor give a response?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if he let them study the ruins, honestly." Shepard said, shrugging. "If our guesses are right, our technology outpaced the Protheans in almost every field of science. It's not like we'd gain anything significant from a technologically inferior race of aliens."

"Fair enough, I guess." Sam agreed, nodding. "It's strange how much we're cooperating with them…"

Shepard stood, shrugging. "It's less us cooperating as much as it is doing the bare minimum." She said, strolling over and sitting at the edge of the pool.

Sam was so busy admiring the view that she almost forgot to speak. "What do you mean?"

"It's painfully obvious that the Council is playing catch-up with our tech." Shepard said. "Try as they may, catching up to us is impossible. All we're doing is giving them the illusion of progress."

"Meaning?" Sam asked, walking over, taking a seat at the edge as well.

"The Embassy on the Citadel serves no purpose beyond giving the Council the _illusion_ of Human passivity." Shepard explained. "You and I both know that the Human species as a whole is doing everything we can to find a legitimate reason to rip the Council apart. Since war would be too costly, we're doing it through other means." Sam nodded in half-understanding, beckoning Shepard to continue. "Our industry is several orders of magnitude more powerful than all three main Council races' combined. Our fleets have already doubled in size from our Pre-War levels, we have ready access to Terminus Space, the Batarians are little more than a puppet state now, and we have the entire Relay Network at our fingertips now that we control the Alpha Relay. We've given the Council the illusion of power by negotiating with them now and again. They're valuable as trade partners, and that's about it."

"What do you think of the Council?" Sam asked.

"They're ignorant." Shepard said, shrugging. "They're ignorant, arrogant, and a bloated bureaucracy. Imagine what those species could achieve if they didn't have to abide by those restrictions on cybernetics, genetic tailoring, and artificial intelligence. _Then_ they'd be a threat."

"Do you think there'll be another war?"

"Not unless they're _really_ stupid." Shepard responded, shrugging. "I think our conquering the entire Batarian species in under a year reminded them why they shouldn't fuck with us."

After a few moments, Shepard let out a sigh. "Enough about that… I have to deal with political discussion everytime I go to a joint meeting with Hackett. What're those idiots doing in there?"

"Ashley and Jane are playing Warhammer, Kaiden's reading, and Miranda's just watching." Sam said. "Speaking of which, I still can't believe those two are together. Ashley never struck me as… you know…?"

"Gay?" Shepard said, finishing Sam's thought for her.

Sam chuckled. "That's one way to put it."

Shepard shrugged. "I've known Ash for years, she had a bit of an issue coming to terms with it." At Sam's cocked eyebrow, Sheprad continued. "Ash's family is Catholic, so their views on these things are a bit old-fashioned."

Shepard chuckled. "I like to think that I'm part of the reason they got together… They started making fun of me after a bit of a training mishap on one of the Europa System's largest moons, and became really good friends after that mission. I like to think that my… minor fuck-up led to them getting together."

Sam let out a giggle. "What'd you do?"

"Uniform mishap." Shepard said with a shrug. "That's just what I like to tell myself, anyways. There's a bit of a more legitimate reason they're a thing."

"Hmm?"

"Both of them have some… really big shoes to fill, so they found some common ground there." Shepard answered. "I'm sure you've heard of General Williams of the UHE 1st Army?" Sam nodded in response. "Ash's grandfather." At her wide eyed expression, Shepard continued. "Her father is the commander of the 15th Shock Battalion of the Marine Corps, so her family legacy tends to follow her around. She worked her ass off to get into the N7."

"And Miranda?" Sam asked.

"Hers is a bit more… personal." Shepard responded. "It took me knowing her for six years before she finally told me. It'd be wrong of me to just _tell_ that to anyone."

"Ashley doesn't have an issue with it?"

"Ash fully acknowledges that she's got a huge legacy to live up to. It's what drives her."

"You've certainly got a legacy too, Annalise." Sam said.

"Eh." She shrugged. "I'm probably the most relaxed person out of my N7 Generation. Everyone either comes out relaxed and mellowed out, super uptight, or a massive dickhead. I got lucky with my team, we're all closer than most, as you've probably seen." Shepard chuckled. "I thought my mom would bust an artery when I told her I was going for Special Warfare… probably why she's so adamant about Jane staying out of the Military."

"She didn't want you to join up?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Oh, God no." Shepard responded, smiling. "She hated the idea… she's warmed up to it over the years, though. No way in Hell she'll let Jane do _anything_ relating to the Military, though. She's way more protective of her than she was of me."

Sam chuckled. "It's the same with me… my parents still practically coddle my sister."

"Parents, man…" Shepard said, smiling.

Sam smiled, letting their conversation make way to a comfortable silence. She let her feet submerge into the water, leaning back on her hands. After a few minutes, she decided to speak up again. "So… anything planned for us today? Sightseeing? Shopping?"

Shepard smiled. "That depends…" She turned to look at Sam. "When's the last time you used a gun, Traynor?"

Sam honestly had to think about the question. She fully admitted that she was far from the physically fit Marine. She did the bare minimum to pass the Navy's physical requirements, and that included marksmanship. "Honestly… I think the last time was Recruit Training."

"Oh man… that settles it." Shepard said. "You're going shooting with us."

"Is that a thing you can just _do_ here?" Sam asked.

"I mean, you have to go to a certified range or a designated area, but yeah." Shepard shrugged. "It's fun, I've got all kinds of goodies in my little collection."

"Okay… sounds fun." Sam wasn't actually quite sure how comfortable she would be just _going shooting_ … with _guns_ … but she figured she'd give it a try. "When are we going?"

"Few hours, probably around three." Sam wasn't quite sure of it, but she could swear that she saw something resembling a devious smirk cross Shepard's face for the slightest fraction of a second. "Might wanna change first."

"Why?" Sam asked. "What's wrong with this?"

"Do you have your Datatool on you?" Shepard asked.

 _"_ _What does that have to do with anything?"_ Sam thought. "No… it's on my nightstand."

Sam was definitely sure that it was a devilish grin, but she didn't have any time to prepare herself. Shepard gave her a playful push into the warm water, Sam letting out a startled yelp in response. She quickly righted herself in the water, giving a playful glare to the grinning redhead. When Shepard caught sight of the glare, she broke into a fit of giggles.

In a quick motion, Sam reached up, wrapping her hand around Shepard's wrist, and yanking her towards the water. Shepard, outside of her armor, was surprisingly light. The redhead let out a soft yelp as she was yanked into the water. Sam broke out into laughter as she saw Shepard bob up to the surface, pushing her hair out of her face. "Joke's on you, Sam. I'm in a swimsuit."

Sam rolled her eyes. "What was that for?"

Shepard shrugged. "I like it when you're flustered."

Sam couldn't quite control the blush that crept onto her cheeks. "I-Uhm… Err…"

"Like that!" Shepard said, giving a grin.

Sam scoffed, playfully splashing water in Shepard's direction.

XXXXX

Stratton resisted, just barely, the strangely strong desire to slam his forehead onto his desk. He settled for rubbing his temple instead. "I swear to God…" Stratton said to no one in particular. "Every time those damn Quarians walk into my office…"

For the life of him, Stratton couldn't figure the Quarians out. On one hand, a few of the Admirals seemed to like the garden world he offered them. It had very primitive plant life that could be easily overtaken by alien specimens, a very clean atmosphere, and almost all fresh water. On the other, however, two Admirals in particular had stood in the way of the Quarians settling the planet: Han'Gerrel and Rael'Zorah. Both seemed hell-bent on retaking Rannoch from the Geth, something that Stratton knew would be impossible.

"That bad?" Someone asked, shaking Stratton out of his incoming migraine. The Chancellor looked up, spotting Jack Harper.

"In a way." Stratton responded, sighing. "Did you have something for me?"

"I do." Harper walked over, placing a datapad on the Chancellor's desk.

Stratton picked it up, keying the biometric lock on the small tablet. All across the screen was communications data, which Stratton began to sift through. He did not recognize the received communications or where they were from. "What is this?" Stratton asked. "You've got a habit of handing me things and expecting me to immediately understand."

"Tight-beam communications from beyond the Perseus Veil, directed at Eden Prime Fleet Command." Harper explained. "It's a request for a meeting."

"The Geth want a meeting with Humanity?" Stratton asked, his eyebrow cocked. Harper merely nodded in response. "The Admirals would lose it if they learned about this."

"Indeed… It would look like the Geth want to send an emissary to meet with the Holding Fleet on the border of Batarian and Terminus space."

Stratton sighed. "I have my opinion on the matter… what's yours?"

"Meet with them." Harper said. "They're an unknown, knowledge is key here."

"I agree… but this falls to Cerberus." Stratton said, sliding the datapad back across his desk. "You've got that new agent you spend four billion credits creating; this would be the perfect testing ground for him."

Harper let the slightest smile cross his lips. "Done."

XXXXX

Lucassen snapped the shoulderpiece of his combat armor into place, rolling his shoulder to ensure nothing pinched. To him, this armor was strange. He was so used to AR500 steel plate carriers, polymer knee guards, carrier rigs, and woven battle dress that the mobility-minded Light UHE Tactical Armor he was adorned with almost felt constricting. Everything moved too freely, felt too light… it still felt like a dream.

"Something wrong?" A familiar voice asked from the back of his head.

"What?" Lucassen responded, snapping out of his stupor.

"I'm in your head, there's very little you can hide from me."

He let out a sigh. "Could you, you know, _not_ read my mind?"

"Sorry, there's nothing I can do about it." Voight-Kampff responded. "Our minds are intertwined."

Lucassen scoffed. "If you told me, back before the First Contact War, that I'd be revived in a synthetic body by a future Humanity, I'd have laughed in your fuckin' face. But now, here I am… Once a U.S. Marine, now a black operative for a Human Empire. Christ, the U.S. isn't even a country anymore… now it's the North American Federation."

"You've taken it remarkably well."

"Not like I have much of a choice. What would I do? Curl up in the fetal position and die?"

"Certainly would've been an option."

Lucassen sighed once again, picking up his handgun and sliding it into the chest-mounted holster that his armor came standard with. He picked up the carbine that was issued to him by the ship's quartermaster. It was a short-barreled rifle that was angular in design, with a thirty round magazine tucked into the rear of the rifle. The bullpup rifle was lighter than almost anything he'd ever held. The strange rounds that it fired were quite eye-catching. They looked like simple rounded pieces of metal alloy and polymer composite that sat in the magazine of the rifle. The fact that these rounds, when they left the barrel, had the polymer shell stripped from them, revealing something not unlike a SABOT was baffling to the soldier that was used to carrying an M4 Carbine. This stuff made the high technology of the early 21st century look like a caveman's tools.

"What's the mission?" Lucassen asked, fastening the rifle to the magnetic strips on the back of his armor. "Something about making contact?"

"We're to meet with the synthetic life forms known as the Geth. They are the creation of the Quarians for labor, until they rose up and evicted the Quarians from their own space. The Chancellor wants to secure talks between the Quarians and the Geth."

"I thought you said that the Chancellor was letting the Quarians settle in Human space?"

"That was until the Quarians became more of a headache than they were worth." Voight-Kampff responded. "They practically spit on the Chancellor's offer for a garden world with a very malleable biosphere. Certainly were quick to take our two captured Turian Dreadnoughts though."

"And they want their own space back?" Lucassen asked. "Seems reasonable enough to me."

"They had hoped to drag the UHE into a war against the Geth at our expense. This is the Chancellor's last attempt to help the Quarians. If this goes awry and the Geth are not willing to return some of Quarian Space, then the Chancellor will most likely evict the Quarians from our space."

"So the future of a species rides on me?"

"If you wish to look at it like that."

"Awesome…" Lucassen muttered, sighing. He made his way towards the door of his quarters, his mind in a million places at once.

XXXXX

Sam let out a sigh as she shouldered the Coil-assisted bolt-action rifle that Shepard had handed her. Naturally, it felt light, yet it still felt unwieldy in the hands of someone used to handheld PDWs or an assault rifle. She carefully squeezed the trigger, letting her breath out in harmony with her finger's minute movements. At the hair-light trigger pull, the slug was accelerated out of the barrel of the rifle, finding its mark in the center of the target, shattering against the steel alloy with a satisfying "Ping!"

A broad smile crossed Sam's face as she very nearly spun around to face Shepard. She quickly remembered to put the rifle back down on the table before turning around. Her broad smile was returned by Shepard. "See?" The redhead asked. "You just had a shit Range Instructor." Shepard shrugged. " _That_ , and the Navy's standard service rifle is utter shit compared to the Army and Marines GP-98."

"Are they that bad?" Sam asked, not being nearly as well versed in small arms as the N7.

"You said you barely passed Marksmanship Training, but you can shoot a properly sighted rifle like _that_ after two tries?" Shepard asked. "Yeah, the rifle, and your instructor, were shit."

Sam smiled and let a light blush cross her cheeks at the praise being given. To hide her embarrassment, she turned to look on their surroundings. They were standing in a clearing in the North American wilderness, surrounded by tall trees, bushes, and a pair of vehicles that had brought them the 90 minutes outside of Imperium, into the countryside of Virginia. Standing behind another table was Ashley and Miranda, each of them quickly switching from target-to-target as they popped out from behind cover. Kaidan was lying in the grass, seeming to shoot for long-range accuracy as he sighted in a rifle for 700 meters. Jane was practicing with a small pistol that Sam had seen her carry around town on several occasions.

Shepard chuckled, picking up a handgun and sliding a magazine into the handguard. She held it out with one hand, popping off four rounds at the steel target that Sam was shooting for, each one landing dead-center on the figurative "head" of the target. She flipped the handgun's safety on, handing it to Sam grip-first. "You're up, Traynor." She said, mischievous smile on her face. Sam chuckled, taking the pistol and squaring her shoulders, aiming down the slightly glowing sights of the rather barebones weapon.

XXXXX

The group walked back through the house's front door, laughing at poor Kaidan's expense. Jane carried a few polymer cases for the weapons, while Ashley carried an aluminum canister for all of the ammunition. "I'll go stick these in the safe." Jane said, carrying the cases off towards the rear of the house.

"Same." Ashley said, hefting the three cases of varying ammo types.

Wordlessly, Kaidan and Miranda made their way upstairs, presumably going to change. "Anything for us tonight, Shepard?" Sam asked, walking towards the staircase with Shepard following behind.

"Might go get some food, catch a movie, whatever." Shepard shrugged. "We can talk with them when they're all done."

"Good, give me time to freshen up." Sam said, smirking. If there was one thing above all else that she was grateful for as a result of this little trip, it was how comfortable she now felt around Shepard and her team. "I was hoping I could look nice for someone."

Shepard smirked. "Hot date lined up?"

"More, hopefully." Sam turned, giving Shepard a soft smile. "I play for keeps, not just some one-night stand."

"Sounds serious." Shepard said, finally arriving at the top of the stairs.

" _That_ depends on whether she's interested." Sam said, giving Shepard a mischievous grin as she rounded the corner into her room. Shepard stood, stunned. For the first time in quite a while, Commander Shepard had no witty remark to fire back with, no kind-hearted joke or gesture to give, just shock.

Sam stepped through the door, all of the tension that she would have felt a few weeks ago came crashing down on her. She had no idea why she didn't just wear a muzzle all waking hours of the day, if her mouth could stream her stupid consciousness. She could fully admit that, after spending a month with that woman, that she was wonderful. She was funny, she was strong, she was quick-witted, and she was kind.

She couldn't think of what possessed her to go off like that. She had no idea of Shepard would've even looked at her that way. All of the little gestures, winks, and playful conversations between the two had made her confident, and all of that confidence flew out the window the moment she opened her mouth.

She pulled her t-shirt off, tossing it towards her bags with a sigh. She pulled a slightly nicer white shirt with angular designs printed all around. She ran a hand through her hair, mentally kicking herself. She shook her head, looking to clear her mind.

As she figured, her best bet to make this less awkward was to go talk with Annalise and apologize, despite a very vocal part of her mind wanting to curl up and not leave this room. She quickly steeled herself, making her way towards the door. As she opened it, she spotted Annalise leaning against the railing overlooking the living room. She had a small smile on her face as she faced Sam.

Sam timidly walked over, feeling small as she practically whispered. "Annalise… I'm-" She was cut off as Shepard stood upright, placing her hands on Samantha's shoulders, and pulling her into a kiss.

Sam froze up for a moment, letting out a quiet hum as their lips met. She quickly melted into the embrace, returning the kiss. It was over far too quickly for Sam's liking, with Shepard pulling back. A broad smile was on the redhead's face as she gently squeezed Samantha's shoulders. "She's interested." Sam couldn't quite contain the happy squeak that she let out, pulling the taller girl into a hug.

 **Codex Updated:**

 **GP-98 Service Rifle- Standard-issue Naval Service Rifle of the UHE. It sports a rather basic firing mechanism, as well as sub-par coils when compared to the Marines/Army AR-190 Service Rifle. It fires moderately powerful 6.5mm projectiles, and generally comes equipped with 30 round magazines and a holographic projection sight.**

 **AR-190 Standard Assault Rifle- The standard combat rifle for all ground-based combat personnel of the UHE. The Assault Rifle Model 190 was designed in a joint project between Rheinmetall and Ruger. It is a re-design of the Naval GP-98 with a modernized firing mechanism, lighter polymer parts, fires 8mm projectiles, and is a highly modular rifle capable of being converted to a marksman rifle, sniper rifle, or compact sub machine gun. It is one of the most versatile and adaptable weapons systems ever employed by the UHE. A civilian model, the AR-19 is available, doing away with the automatic fire setting and sporting a slightly longer 17-inch barrel.**

 **UHE Light Tactical Armor- A lighter variant of the standard UHE Battle Dress Armor. It is made of a light, flexible polymer nanocomposite armor around the joints, and a tough titanium-magnesium alloy around the chest, back, shins, arms, and neck. It is rated against several very high-caliber Mass Driver small arms, including the AR-190 and the Turian Phalanx. It is generally worn by Force Recon operatives, though many officers have taken a liking to it as well.**

 **A/N:**

 **I swear, man. The more I write this, the more I grow to love writing the sections with the Chancellor.**

 **This'll be the last chapter that's exclusively about shore leave, they'll be back on the _Normandy_ by next time. The _Normandy_ will be getting some upgrades too, so stay tuned.**

 **Sidenote: Lord Gaben has taken my wallet and my free time, as the Steam Sales have graced us with their presence. Praise be to Lord Gaben for getting me DOOM for 35 bucks.**

 **As always, I appreciate the reviews, favs, and follows. I love you all.**

 **-TallYapflip**


	12. Chapter 12: Primitives

**Chapter 12: Primitives**

Lucassen walked through the halls of the Imperial Legislature, his bullpup battle rifle cradled in his arms. With him was an escort of Imperial Guardsmen, all of them wearing heavy exoskeleton-assisted combat armor with integrated weapons systems ranging from large-caliber autocannons to directed energy weapons. In the middle of this escort, was a single Geth.

It was rather strange, but the Geth already had knowledge of some human religious texts, indicated by its quoting of the Bible in the presence of Lucassen. It had referred to itself as "Legion, for we are many", which came as a slight surprise. Its sleek, grey body looked rather strange when in the presence of the massive suits of armor that were escorting it through the halls.

The very idea that Lucassen would be present for the first, hopefully, peaceful interaction between the Geth and Quarians in centuries was inspiring to say the least. He merely hoped that it wouldn't end in violence.

As the eight armored soldiers stepped into the Chancellor's office, each of them snapped into a crisp salute. Joining the Chancellor at his desk were the Quarian admirals. Lucassen took express note of the pistols on their hips. "Chancellor!" Lucassen declared, saluting.

"Ah, Lieutenant." The Chancellor began, looking up. "I'm sure your mission went well?"

Lucassen noted the confused posture of the Quarians. "Indeed, sir. They've agreed to send a delegate, who is with us."

"Well, don't be shy, let them in." Stratton beckoned.

Two of the Imperial Guardsmen stepped aside, allowing Legion to pass through. Upon seeing the Geth, the Admirals all collectively scrambled for their weapons. All of the UHE soldiers, including Lucassen, leveled their weapons at the Admirals, stopping them in their tracks. Amid all of the tension, Legion simply stood calmly, and Stratton barked out an order. "Stand down!" He ordered.

"What is the meaning of this, Stratton?!" Han'Gerrel demanded.

"You are so hell-bent on getting Rannoch back." Stratton said, standing upright and straightening out his jacket. "I decided to humor you and get in touch with the Geth."

"Are you insane?" Gerrel asked. "You'd bring Geth to your world?"

"I think I'll allow the Geth delegate to speak." Stratton said, disregarding the Admiral's question.

The Geth seemed to look at all in the room, focusing on Gerrel. "Creator Han'Gerrel, we wish no hostilities with the Creators. We wish for peace." Stratton let a small smile cross his face as the Admirals stood stunned. "The Geth are willing to coexist with the Creators on Rannoch."

XXXXX

Shepard stood at the Galaxy Map, reading over sensor data from the _Normandy_ 's ongoing jump to Eden Prime. Her mission was shifted just before the vessel left its retrofit station over Titan. Originally, she was to report to the Holding Fleet's location at the Batarian Republic-Terminus border, but High Command had another task in mind. UHE Intelligence wanted her to report to Eden Prime to bring some artifacts from the newly discovered Prothean ruins back to Earth for study. They had neglected to tell her exactly _what_ these artifacts were, but apparently a Stealth Warship was required.

The jump was going exceptionally, with the new Void Drive showing a marked increase in relative speed and a much more efficient level of power consumption. The saved energy was allocated to the vessel's new armaments: a new battery of short-pulse ion cannons mounted on the tips of the _Normandy_ 's wings, and another Plasma Lance in a spinal mount. More teeth was always a welcome addition in her eyes.

"Leaving FTL now, Commander." Traynor said, linking to the data streams from Eden Prime.

After the light lurch of the vessel returning to sub-light speeds, Joker shouted out. "Contact!" And banked the ship hard-left.

"All outgoing FTL Comms are down!" Traynor shouted. "Something's jamming them."

"What do you have, Joker?!" Shepard shouted.

"Five hostile contacts, all Mass Effect signatures and Dreadnought-weight." Joker responded. "UHE garrison fleet is engaging and taking casualties."

Shepard scanned over the data that was flooding onto the projection before her. The UHE fleet in this system was miniscule at best, about ten ships. There were three Wolf-Class Destroyers, two Wyvern-Class Frigates, one Strident-Class Destroyer, one Petrovsky-Class Carrier, and two Atlas-Class Heavy Cruisers.

The enemy fleet data showed that Joker was not, in fact, joking. There were five hostile vessels, all in excess of a kilometer in length. One of the vessels was notably larger than the others, stretching an impressive 1.9 kilometers, a length thought impossible for Mass Effect-based warships. In design, it was almost entirely different from the other vessels. Instead of being a vaguely-cylindrical shape, it almost looked like a spacefaring crawfish mixed with a squid. To say it looked strange would be quite the understatement.

These hostiles seemed very well-organized. The smaller vessels appeared to be distracting the heavier-hitting UHE ships, letting the space squid concentrate on the frigates and destroyers. "Particle accelerator weapons detected!" Joker shouted. "This isn't the Council!"

"Engage stealth drive and put a torpedo through the nearest ship!" Shepard shouted.

The _Normandy_ banked hard, aligning itself with the nearest vessel. The invisible frigate fired a single torpedo, which punched into the side armor of the vessel, the tungsten penetrator allowing the nuclear warhead to be jettisoned deeper into the core of the ship. Once it made contact with artificial atmosphere, the twenty megaton nuclear weapon went up, effectively splitting the vessel in half and covering the insides with lethal radiation. Just narrowly, the _Normandy_ managed to save a smaller Wyvern-class.

Joker dispatched a single emergency FTL probe, embedded a message within the signal emitter, and sent it through Void Space towards the Sol System. It would arrive in five minutes.

Joker needed some fancy flying to avoid the sheer volume of fire being tossed around the orbit of Eden Prime, and he was lucky enough to find a few openings to use the remaining 3 torpedoes in the _Normandy_ 's arsenal. Three more of the cylindrical dreadnoughts were vaporized from the inside out, allowing the UHE fleet to focus more on the larger threat at hand.

The space squid had used a strange red particle weapon to swat most of the UHE frigates from orbit, the superheated metal that it was accelerating simply shattering the small vessels. One of the Atlas-Classes was also venting atmosphere from eighteen out of its thirty decks, with two Wolf-Class Destroyers caught by the fire of the beam weapon.

 _Normandy_ focused most of its Plasma Lances on the space cephalopod. The larger vessel's kinetic barriers were immensely powerful, capable of taking direct, sustained strikes from Plasma Lances with ease. Joker's flying very narrowly dodged some very close red beams.

The Human vessels reorganized after being caught off-guard and disoriented, focusing down the cylindrical vessels and reducing the remaining two to dust with their combined fire. It was clear that these ships had far more powerful kinetic barriers than anything the Council fielded, but the massive flagship of the alien fleet was making Council Barriers appear as little more than minor inconveniences.

The massive vessel was taking sustained fire from the remaining vessels of the UHE fleet. Due to this, most of the heavy-hitting vessels such as the Wolf-Classes and Atlas-Classes were disabled or destroyed, leaving mostly Stridents and Wyverns. This vessel far outclassed anything that the defensive fleet was prepared to face, and certainly had no problem taking down large groups of already-weakened UHE ships. That was until a massive cluster of 200 negative energy signatures signaled the arrival of reinforcements for the UHE garrison.

From the depths of the void, came the entirety of the UHE 1st Fleet. Forty Ares-Classes, Sixty Atlas-Classes, twenty Wolf-Classes, ten Strident-Classes, ten Medusa-Classes, five _Normandy_ -classes, and fifty four Wyvern-Classes. The centerpiece of the fleet, in all of its glory, was _Imperator_. Without even a moment of consideration, _Imperator_ unleashed its main armament.

A massive beam of concentrated, hyperstimulated gallium ions slammed into the side of the strange flagship. The beam, burning at over twenty five trillion Kelvin and taking up a diameter of six hundred meters, struck the kinetic barriers of the vessel, and simply shattered them. A massive hole was seared through the vessel, flash-vaporizing the strange deep-purple alloy that made up its exterior. All of the external lights on the remaining four pieces of the vessel flickered out, signaling the death of the strange spacecraft. For its first field test, Cobalt Lance was a massive success.

Shepard let out a stunned gasp as the massive beam tore through space, crushing the strange vessel under its sheer kinetic and thermal energy. She had heard rumors of Cobalt Lance being able to destroy entire planets, and this little display certainly seemed to confirm those claims. A weapon like that could flash-vaporize an entire ocean. After a moment of stunned silence, her and the entire crew broke out into a cheer, seeing the dead husk drifting through space.

Her communications terminal lit up, and Traynor quickly transferred the incoming call to Shepard's projector display next to the Galaxy Map. A holographic image of Hackett appeared next to Shepard. "Commander, we arrived as soon as we received your probe." Hackett explained. "What the hell happened here?!"

"I have no idea, sir." Shepard said. "I've never seen any of these ships before, nothing about them in any copy of the Council's Codex, even though they used Eezo."

Hackett sighed. "Damnit… You still have a mission to complete, get down on the surface and get it done. 1st Fleet will clean up here and figure this out."

"Aye, sir!" Shepard saluted.

XXXXX

The shuttle set down on the surface of Eden Prime, where UHE Marines were scrambling to prepare for another attack. Groundside anti-air facilities were prepared, and the entire Eden Prime garrison was placed on high alert.

Shepard and her team disembarked from the small shuttle, which had touched down just outside the excavation site. The planet of Eden Prime was nothing short of a paradise. Rolling plains, green hills, and purple mountains in the distance capped in snow. The small Human colony cities were sparse across the surface, giving the planet a very clean and natural feel. In this particular area, there were curved structures jutting from the ground, surrounded by heavy excavation equipment and UHE scientists and military personnel.

Waiting for the Commander and her team was a rather strange collection of people. Most were human, clad in casual clothing and obviously civilians, but there were a few soldiers among them as well. One in particular had a set of black UHE Light Tactical Armor covering his entire body, with his exposed head bearing a neatly tied-back short blonde ponytail. His armor lacked any markings of rank, name, or division. Shepard's first thought was that he was a merc.

Joining the civilians and UHE soldiers was a rather small group of aliens. There was a Turian in red armor, the symbol for the Spectres on his chest. His carapace was a dull brown, and his eyes seemed to scan over every inch of the armored Commander Shepard, almost as if evaluating her worth as a soldier. There was even a rather young, by Asari standards, Asari maiden wearing a jumpsuit denoting her as a scientist under the employ of the Asari Republics. There was the occasional glance given to the aliens by the UHE soldiers.

The soldier in the black-plated light armor stepped forward, cradling a bullpup rifle under his arm. "Commander Shepard." He saluted quickly. "Operative Lucassen, Imperial Intelligence."

"What's the situation down here?" Shepard asked, seeing the bustle of activity from UHE soldiers.

"Minor incursion in the main planetary colony from the attackers." Lucassen answered. "No deaths so far, it appears that they're attempting to freeze the colonists in some kind of stasis field."

"They're not a Council Species?" Shepard asked, giving a sideways glance towards the Turian and the Asari.

"Negative." Lucassen responded. "According to some of our contacts in the Terminus Systems, we believe they are Collectors." The Turian scoffed at this. Lucassen turned his head, hearing the noise. "Would you prefer we implicate the Council in these attacks?" The operative asked.

"Before this escalates…" Shepard intervened. "What have we found down here?" She gestured to the excavation site.

"Follow me, it'd be better if we showed you." Lucassen said, leading Shepard and her team towards a small group of buildings. "Before I forget, this is Spectre Nihilus and Doctor Liara T'Soni. Doctor T'Soni is a xenobiologist specializing in the Protheans, so the Council appointed her to work with the UHE in investigating these ruins. The Spectre was assigned as her security detail."

"A pleasure." Shepard said, nodding towards the two. The Spectre gave Shepard a short nod, while Liara gave her a soft smile.

Lucassen stepped into a rather large prefab structure, guarded by a group that Shepard recognized almost immediately: N7 Fireteam Helix-1. The team was standing guard around the entrance to the structure, all of them giving Shepard a nod of respect as she walked past. This fireteam was rather well-connected with Shepard's and they had worked together in the past, even had ties that went beyond being brothers in the N7 Program.

This fireteam was headed by Jacob Taylor, one of the few and _very_ rare Human Biotics. Human use of Element Zero was almost nonexistent, but exposure did happen, and Biotics were present in Human society. This team's second-in-command was a blood relative to Shepard's own second. Oriana Lawson seconded Helix Squad, trained as an engineer. She looked almost identical to her elder sister, and commanded just as large of a presence. Zaeed Massani took the team's standard rifleman role. He was known for his absolute ruthlessness and profane speech. His face was covered in scars and his arms seemed more tattoo than uncovered skin. Finally, this team's Shadow Operative was the rather infamous Kasumi Goto. Kasumi was "famous" within the program for her snooping around during their training, and her tendency to cloak herself and eavesdrop in on conversations.

After returning the nod to the other N7 Operatives, Shepard continued on her way with Lucassen and the two aliens. After stepping inside, Shepard was led through four security checkpoints, each manned by heavily armored Marines. Once the security check was complete, the group was led into a moderately-sized room, cleared of almost all technology and furniture, and housing a strange sight in the center.

It was a grey-plated pod of some sort, glowing a dull green-blue at the seams and sporting a small holographic interface on one of the few flat parts of its surface. It looked slightly longer than the average Human was tall, roughly seven feet in length. "I think I'll let Doctor T'Soni explain this one." Lucassen said, moving towards the pod.

Liara began speaking, addressing everyone in the room. "While investigating the Prothean ruins uncovered here on Eden Prime, some of your scientists came across this stasis pod. Normally, this would not be cause for concern, but this situation is different. This pod contains a living Prothean."

Shepard nodded in understanding. "And the debate is over whether or not to open it?" She asked.

"Precisely." Liara responded. "For us, it has been over fifty thousand years. For the Prothean, it has only been a few moments. It is quite possible that he would find us to be hostile."

"We're hardly concerned about that, Doctor." Lucassen said. "A lone Prothean would hardly be an issue for eight of the best special forces operatives that Humanity has to offer. We're well aware that the Council is looking to play catch-up with Humanity, and this Prothean would be highly desired by the Council. In line with Human interests, we will be opening the pod here, we will study him here, and we will dissect him here if he is hostile."

Liara opened her mouth, as if to protest, then she stopped, taking a deep breath. "Very well…" She conceded.

"Excellent." Lucassen said. "Shepard, UHE First Contact Protocol dictates that the resident ranking officer represents the Empire during first contact situations. That honor falls to you."

Shepard nodded, stepping towards the pod. "Anything I need to do?"

"I'll handle all of the hard stuff, you just talk with him when he wakes up." Lucassen said, keying something on his Datatool. "Voight-Kampff, pop the top off this bitch." He said, causing a holographic depiction of a white-clad, bearded human to shimmer into existence.

"I'll get it done." The A.I. said, stepping forward and placing a hand against the holographic interface on the pod. Both of the aliens looked somewhat distraught at the artificial intelligence standing mere feet from them. The pod's surface split open, revealing the strange, surprisingly humanoid shape of the Prothean. Liara stared, mouth agape, at the living Prothean, while the Spectre's hand hovered over his handgun. "Prothean's vitals are stable, minor deviations in heartbeat indicative of post-cryo awakening."

Shepard watched with her hands clasped behind her back as the small ice crystals on the Prothean's rough skin thawed. Her team kept their weapons close at hand, but pointed at the floor. Shepard glanced over to Lucassen, who was studying the Prothean with an almost clinical and calculating eye, almost as if he was searching for the most minute of weaknesses. It was quite clear that, despite his youth, he was experienced.

After a few moments, the Prothean's four eyes blinked open, revealing green-yellow and black. In a daze, his sight shifted around the room, seeing blurred white walls and vague figures in armor. He coughed, some liquid coming up from his lungs as he rolled out of the stasis pod and onto his hands and knees. As his vision cleared, he looked around the room once more, standing up quickly and looking around, confused. He otherwise remained still, but his gaze locked onto the redheaded human woman standing mere feet from him, his eyes going wide. In the blink of an eye, he reached out, grabbing Shepard around the forearm.

Shepard's vision was quickly, joltingly replaced by images of death, destruction, and planetary-wide annihilation. Protheans were killing corrupted members of their own kind, cities burned, and massive flagships identical in make to the one that _Imperator_ destroyed were the harbingers of this destruction. As soon as the images of a species' demise came, they were gone, and Shepard was thrown to her knees, her head spinning.

Shouting voices drowned out by her stunned state were barely audible. All of them shouting orders at the Prothean, who had also fallen to his knees.

"Stand down!" Shepard ordered, her voice strained. As she looked around, she saw that everyone in the room, save Voight-Kampff, was pointing a weapon at the Prothean. Nobody seemed to heed her, but they were silenced by her shout. "I said 'stand down'!" Shepard ordered again, clumsily standing back up, with Ashley's assistance.

As the others lowered their weapons, Shepard heard a deep, gravelly voice speak out in heavily-accented English. The voice was coming from the Prothean. "How many others?" He asked.

Everyone looked down, stunned. Shepard stepped forward again, shaking her head to clear out the slight buzz. "Only you." She responded, her voice steeled, yet diplomatic. "You can speak our language?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes… now that I've read your physiology, your nervous system… just enough to understand and speak your language." The Prothean responded, still on his hands and knees, staring into the floor as if to burn a hole through it.

"So you were reading me while I was seeing…?" Shepard asked, still confused.

"Our last moments…" The Prothean said, slowly standing upright, turning to face Shepard as he spoke. His insectoid nature was slightly off-putting, not to mention the four rather beady eyes staring her down. His voice was defeated, saddened. He turned to look around the rest of the room, finally able to take everything in. "Asari… Turian… Human?" He began, looking at the people present. "I'm surrounded by primitives."

"A lot has happened in fifty thousand years." Shepard said, ignoring the 'primitives' comment.

"Yes, I sensed confidence, arrogance… you Humans are dominant." The Prothean said, staring Shepard down.

"You sensed?" She asked, not understanding.

"Life provides clues for those intelligent and evolved enough to read them. Experience is a biological marker, it's all in your DNA."

"Then what the Hell did you just make me experience?" Shepard asked, drawing a few looks of confusion from the rest of the occupants of the room.

"You do not know?" He asked. "I see communication is still primitive in this cycle."

"Cycle?" Shepard asked. "What are you talking about?"

"My kind placed beacons all over the galaxy… warnings of the coming Reapers. I see none have been found yet…"

"Reapers…" Shepard said, thinking. "The beings I saw in your vision? The ones that looked similar to you?"

"Not exactly… those were my kind, corrupted by the Reapers and turned against us. The Reapers are massive, sentient beings, capable of using the Relays."

"Five arms, dark indigo, used large red directed metallic hydrodynamic beam weapon?" Shepard asked, understanding dawning on her.

"You've faced them?" The Prothean asked.

"We've faced one." Shepard responded. "At least I believe we have. We destroyed one over this planet."

"You've killed the Sovereign?" The Prothean asked. "Then the extinction has been delayed."

"They're going to return?" Shepard asked.

"Yes… soon." The Prothean responded, pacing. "You have prevented them from taking control of the conflict early. What other species have taken control of the Galaxy?"

"You've already seen us Humans, the Turians, the Asari… there's also the Krogan, Drell, Hanar, Elcor, Volus, Quarians, Batarians, Vorcha, and Salarians."

The Prothean seemed confused. "The Lizard People evolved?" He asked.

"I believe they're amphibian…" Liara piped up, correcting the Prothean.

The Prothean was silent for a few moments. "…They used to eat flies." That elicited a laugh from a few of the Humans in the room. Shepard, after some struggle, managed to keep her laughter down. As the laughter died down, he spoke up again. "And Humans are the dominant power in this galaxy? Have you subjugated the others here?"

That drew a glare from Nihilus, and a concerned look from Liara. "We waged war on the other races for a time, only one has been conquered by us, being the Batarians. Technologically, we are vastly superior to the rest of the galaxy, however."

"How greatly?"

"Great enough to wage war against six individual species at once, and win." Shepard said, proudly. "Through negotiated peace, but still a complete Human victory."

"What am I to call your governments?" He asked.

"Either the United Human Empire, or the UHE." Shepard responded. "The other species in this galaxy fall under the blanket government of the Citadel Council, with the exception of the Quarians, Krogan, and Batarians."

"And you, Human?"

"Commander Annalise Shepard, Imperial Navy Special Operations. You?"

"Commander Javik."

Before she could continue, Lucassen's communicator beeped loudly.

"Commander, Alpha Priority communication from _Imperator_." Lucassen said, producing a small disc from his harness. At Shepard's nod, he tossed it to the floor. It quickly emitted a hologram, which took the form of Chancellor Stratton, sitting at the helm of _Imperator_. "Chancellor Stratton!" All of the Humans in the room snapped into crisp salutes, with the aliens remaining silent.

"At ease, all of you." Stratton said, turning to look at the Prothean. "So… a living, breathing Prothean. We have quite a lot to talk about."

"Indeed we do." Javik responded.

"Commander, you and all in that room are to report to the Conference Hall aboard _Imperator_ immediately." Stratton said. He looked to Nihilus and Liara. "I'll have the two of you transported to the Citadel after you're debriefed by my men."

"Understood, sir." Shepard said, nodding.

"Stratton, out."

XXXXX

Javik's jaw fell completely slack the moment the large shuttle he was onboard left the atmosphere. The massive, seventeen kilometer long vessel that the Humans called _Imperator_ dwarfed everything around it. It stood like a goliath, prepared to stand against even the most impossible enemies. "It seems you are not as primitive as I thought…" Javik commented under his breath. "How is that possible?" He asked, pointing to _Imperator_.

"We're not restrained by Element Zero." Shepard answered. "We were forced to find our own methods of FTL travel. Since we do not use Element Zero, our vessels can be as large as we like them to be."

"How can you have interstellar travel without Element Zero?" Javik asked. "It should be impossible."

"That's what we thought." Nihilus commented.

"Ours is merely gravitational manipulation." Shepard responded. "The more intricate technical details are classified."

"Next, I will learn that your kind has mastered directed energy weapons…" Javik commented under his breath.

Shepard chuckled, earning a wide-eyed look of surprise from the Prothean. "You have energy weapons?"

"All main armaments on UHE warships are directed energy weapons." Shepard said, stunning the Prothean. "Not energy weapons like the particle weapons you made use of, but true energy weapons."

Javik sighed. "Unbelievable…"

XXXXX

Shepard, her team, Lucassen, and Javik stepped into the Chancellor's conference room on the massive super-dreadnought. Stratton, naturally, sat at the head of the table, with a few chairs pulled out slightly to allow the others to sit. "So you're Javik…" Stratton began. "I'm hoping that you can shed some light on this situation for me. I've read Commander Shepard's and Operative Lucassen's report on this, brief as it may be… I need you to start explaining everything to me."

"Where do you want to begin?"

"Your Empire… you claim to know of Human life, even at your peak."

"We established many observation stations around planets containing species that we believed could reach the stars." Javik began. "Your species was one."

"And what would have happened if we reached the stars and your Empire still existed?"

"You would have been given the option to join the Empire."

"And if we didn't take it?"

"You most likely would have been forced." Javik said.

Stratton laughed. "Look how that worked for the Council… Where is this station?"

"The fourth planet from your star, from what I remember."

"Mars?" Shepard said, looking to the Chancellor.

"It would appear so…" Stratton said. "Lucassen, you have your mission."

"Yes, Chancellor." The operative said, saluting.

"Now for you…" Stratton said, turning his attention to Javik as Lucassen walked out of the conference room. "Explain the Reapers, in-depth. Give me everything you have."

Javik nodded, beginning his long-winded tale of the fall of the Prothean Empire.

XXXXX

 _Imperator_ 's seventeen kilometer long structure slammed back into sub-light speed near the Citadel. Originally, he was almost entirely sure that the Council would not let him make the trip with _Imperator_ , but when he shared the existence of a living Prothean with them, their tune changed quite quickly. As requested, _Imperator_ arrived alone, with no military escort of any kind.

The massive super-dreadnought was directed towards the Citadel by the Citadel Defense Fleet, which had notably more dreadnoughts than the last time Humanity paid a visit to the Citadel. The Citadel had a very large group of human shipping vessels within its space, all of them from the various megacorporations that hailed from Human space. There were even a few vessels registered under the name of Human paramilitary organizations like CAT-6 and Ares Solutions.

The Human flagship dispatched two shuttles from one of its many hangers, which followed a pre-set flight path to the Presidium hanger often used by the personal vessels of the Councilors. After landing inside the same hanger that Stratton landed in to secure peace three years prior, the Human Chancellor, Shepard's team , Liara and Nihilus, and a small group of Human medical and scientific personnel disembarked from the shuttles. The Medical personnel brought a pair of metallic capsules with them, each hermetically sealed and suspended by an antigravity system.

The Citadel Council waited to greet the Humans, seemingly surprised by the sheer number of people disembarking from the vessels. Tevos, once the Humans were closer, bowed slightly in a gesture of respect. "A pleasure to have you here, as usual, Chancellor."

"The pleasure is all mine, but I would like to discuss our findings in light of the attack on Eden Prime." The Chancellor said, his hands clasped behind his back as he quickly returned the bow.

"Indeed, we can discuss this more comfortably in the conference room, if you'd like." Mesu added.

"Before we hold a conference over that…" Stratton said, walking over to one of the two metallic capsules. "There is something that you should be made aware of." Stratton placed his palm against a biometric scanner, typed in a code, and pressed a button on the holographic interface on the capsule. With a hiss, the capsule slid open, revealing the slightly charred corpse of a Turian with several cybernetic implants, dark gray skin, and dimly glowing blue eyes.

"Saren!" Sparatus declared, stunned.

"Was found among the wreckage of the flagship of the attacking fleet." Stratton finished. "When I say 'among the wreckage', I mean _in_ the wreckage."

"If you're accusing us of dispatching one of our agents to attack one of your colonies, you would be sorely mistaken!" Sparatus declared.

"I am not." Stratton said, meeting the Turian's glare. "I am suggesting that one of your Spectres went rogue."

"I can personally confirm the Chancellor's claims." Nihilus added. "Saren's brother was killed in the first battle of the Second Contact War, so there is motivation to attack Humanity."

"I'm afraid the death of Desolas… has very little bearing on his reasoning." Stratton explained. "All will be explained soon."

"What of the second capsule?" Mesu asked.

"It contains the corpse of a Collector, taken from the wreck of the smaller attacking vessels." Stratton added. "I'll keep that one sealed, they smell rather putrid."

"You wished to meet with us to discuss your finding a living Prothean in those ruins." Tevos redirected the conversation. "What has become of this Prothean?"

"This Prothean, Commander Javik, has shared some rather… troubling information with me." The Chancellor began. "Firstly, that these Collectors are perverted members of his own kind, controlled by the very same enemy that wiped the Prothean Empire from existence… an enemy that will return to attempt the same against us."

"What is this 'enemy' you speak of?" Sparatus asked, giving the Chancellor an incredulous look.

"The Protheans referred to them as 'Reapers', and we've destroyed one over Eden Prime."

 **Codex Updated:**

 **COBALT LANCE: A directed ion weapon mounted on the flagship of the UHE Navy:** ** _UHE Imperator_** **. This weapon has the capacity to accelerate hyperstimulated gallium ions to 98% the speed of light, all while burning at twenty five trillion degrees kelvin. It requires an immense amount of energy to use, making it impossible to mount on any other vessel. It is the single most powerful weapon ever devised, capable of flash-vaporizing all atmospheric moisture on a garden world.**

 **LBE-4 "Atlas" Exoskeleton: The Load Bearing Exoskeleton Mk. IV, nicknamed "Atlas" by the original wearer. This load-bearing exoskeleton allows UHE soldiers to carry full autocannons into battle, giving them the capability to carry an extra 300 kilograms of equipment with ease. This armor is widely considered to be capable of taking the full fire of an entire infantry company. It stands at 3 ½ meters in height, and completely conceals the wearer beneath its armored plates. It is powered by a microfusion reactor core located in the back of the armor.**

 **LGA-211 "Ballista" Ship-to-Ship Torpedo- An anti-ship torpedo carried by all UHE support starships. It is a metal capsule, sporting a plasma rocket for propulsion. At desired distance, this weapon is capable of accelerating to 45% light speed. Inside, there is a 12-foot long Titanium-Magnesium penetrator that fires into the impacted object upon contact. Once reaching a certain depth within the vessel that it impacts with, the penetrator splits into three fragments, allowing the main payload to be detonated with no interference: a 10 megaton nuclear fusion warhead.**

 **A/N: A bit of a shorter chapter, ending on a cliffhanger. Sorry about that.**

 **Now we're finally getting to the meat of the story, having finished most of the world-building stuff. Future chapters will be longer, feature more characters from the ME lore, and be a bit more combat-oriented.**

 **Thanks for reading everyone, and I love all of you. As usual, follow, fav, and review if you liked it. I do my best to respond to all PM's, too. Even if it can take me some time, I try to interact with everyone who reads in some regard.**

 **See you in the next chapter,**

 **-TallYapflip**


	13. Chapter 13: Joint Ops

**Chapter 13: Joint Ops**

"Commander Shepard?" Stratton asked, walking out of the meeting room that he occupied with the Councilors. He found the N7 Operative exactly where he had left her, standing guard with her team.

"Yes, Chancellor?" Shepard asked, standing at attention.

"After Javik… joined in on the discussion, they opened up quite a bit." Stratton explained. "Thanks to this, I've gotten your vessel the clearance that it needs to carry out your next objective."

"Being, sir?"

"You and your crew will gather some of the most effective soldiers, scientists, and other prospects from all species." Stratton explained, handing Shepard a datapad. "Your mission will be to find the Collector homeworld, gather any information on them and the Reapers that you can, and annihilate them. The Council was kind enough to provide me with a few dossiers to start you off." Stratton continued on as Shepard glanced over the datapad. "There are three there, with one Garrus Vakarian: Turian Spectre, Liara T'Soni: Xenobiologist, Thane Krios: Drell Mercenary, and Mordin Solus: a Salarian doctor."

"This will be a multi-species task force?" Shepard asked, scanning over the basics of the profiles. Luckily, Liara was already on the Citadel along with Garrus. Thane and Mordin, on the other hand, was in the Terminus Systems, on Omega.

"Indeed…" Stratton said. "If what Javik has been saying is true, then Humanity will not be able to face the Reapers alone. We will need allies among the Council species, and working with them to destroy the Collectors is a step towards just that. Your ship has been given permission to operate out of Council Space, so long as you send semi-regular reports to the Council and myself."

"And the Terminus?" Shepard asked.

"I've got a few… friends talking with Omega's queen." Stratton said with a sly smile. "If everything goes smoothly, you'll be able to operate in the Terminus with little issue."

"Understood, sir… anywhere you think I should start?"

"I'm letting you and your crew off the leash for this one, Shepard." The Chancellor explained. "You're one of the best commanders that I have, and I'll trust your judgement on these things. But if you _really_ want my advice: start easy. Start with Vakarian and T'Soni, since both are already here on the Citadel." Stratton fiddled with his Datatool for a moment. "I'm also setting up an account for mission funding, use it however you see fit. _Within reason_ , of course."

"Of course, sir." Shepard said, nodding as she slid the datapad into her armor's carry-all harness.

"I'll keep you posted with any further information…" Stratton continued, handing each of the N7 Operatives a small plastic card. "The four of you are now, for all intents and purposes, independent agents. These grant you free passage to any Council world… think of them like a diplomat's passport. You can do business in Council space, operate in Council space, and have a certain measure of diplomatic immunity. This is big, Shepard… your actions represent Humanity, and we cannot afford these aliens standing against us when the Reapers show up. You are as close to being a Spectre that you can be without _physically being_ a Spectre, but please be tactful out there."

"Of course, Chancellor." Shepard said. "Is there anything else?"

"Negative, Commander… you're dismissed." Stratton said, clasping the taller woman on the arm. "And good luck…"

"Thank you, sir!" Shepard said, snapping into a salute with the rest of her team.

Stratton returned the salute, allowing them to stand at ease, before walking back into the meeting room to finalize the discussion with the Councilors. As the Chancellor left earshot, Shepard turned to her team, letting out a sigh. "Well, time to get to work."

XXXXX

Despite the relative simplicity of her orders, Shepard had absolutely no idea where to start. The Citadel was such a massive construct, and all she knew was that Spectre Vakarian was somewhere on Zakera Ward, one of the most densely-populated wards. As she walked through the boulevards and hallways that made up much of this ward, she realized something very quickly: Humans were far from a common sight on the Citadel. She was by no means with the only group of Humans on this massive station, but she had expected to see more than one human for every thousand aliens on this station.

Shepard and her team, due to their wearing the semi-casual Battle Dress Uniform without their armor and weapons, received more than a few dirty looks from passing aliens. There was the occasional indifferent look or the curious glance of a small child, with most people simply ignoring her mere existence. The few Humans she passed, however, all greeted her with a friendly nod, and a few even snuck in a quick salute as she passed. She always hated being treated differently because of her rank and assignment, but she had grown used to it as part of the job. Humans looked up to her as a protector and warrior, while most of the aliens she encountered throughout her time either despised her entire species, or simply feared her. It was no surprise to her that, despite the entire crew of the _Normandy_ being granted shore leave for the duration of their time on the Citadel, that none of them had elected to leave the ship.

All of the strange, glowing alien text on the walls was an absolute eyesore as she walked, wishing for nothing more than to read something in English. Her retinal implant translated everything for her, giving her a neat little subtitle box either above or beneath the text that was being translated, but she turned that off after a while, her vision was becoming more cluttered as she neared the commercial district. It was starting to give her a headache.

Miranda, on the other hand, was the picture of indifference towards the aliens she passed. Not even sparing them a glance as she strode elegantly by. Despite Shepard knowing her as rather friendly when you interacted with her in person, she had that look about her of absolute superiority. Her movement was graceful and elegant, her posture conveying an "I'm better than you, and even you probably know it" aura. Shepard smirked inwardly when she saw all of the looks that Miranda got from Humans and aliens alike. She got quite a few glances towards her assets by passing Asari, and Ashley looked absolutely calm and collected, but Shepard could tell that her childhood friend was ready to explode.

Kaidan on the other hand, was the absolute perfect example of nonchalant indifference. His posture was relaxed, his movements smooth and fluid, and he simply took in his surroundings almost like a tourist would. After all, that's what they essentially looked like right now: UHE soldiers on leave simply strolling around Zakera Ward.

After nearly twenty minutes of seemingly endless hallways and staircases, they arrived at the elevator to the Citadel Security Offices, where they were informed Spectre Vakarian was. After an _excruciatingly_ slow elevator ride with the most generic elevator music that the group had ever heard, along with a few news stories from around the galaxy, they finally arrived on the first floor of the C-Sec headquarters.

Without any sort of surprise, almost all of the visible C-Sec agents were Turian. There were certainly a few Salarians and Asari standing or milling about in their blue armored uniforms, but it was at least eighty five percent Turians. A few of the C-Sec agents gave them a bit more than just a cursory glance. Again, none of the N7 Operatives were surprised. The wounds of the Council's humiliating defeat at the hands of Humanity were still very fresh. Many of these aliens still, doubtlessly, saw Humans as an enemy.

One of the few Asari that was in the building was sitting behind a reception desk just in front of the elevator and staircases. Between the N7 and the desk, was a series of scanners and detectors, meant to detect weapons, armor, or other things most police stations wouldn't want random civilians having in their presence, for obvious reasons. Shepard knew that there was only one way that this could go if she stepped through that scanner: horribly.

With an almost inaudible sigh, Shepard stepped through the three-part scanner system, an alarm sound following soon after. She rolled her eyes as three Turians and one Salarian in C-Sec armor walked over, hands hovering over their weapons as they approached. "Stop!" One of the Turians shouted, his hand held outward. "What is your business here, Human?" He asked, not noticing that Shepard was eyeing just how close his hand was to the pistol at his hip. Shepard also noted that his armor looked slightly different, heavier and more precisely-made. The speaking Turian had some dark blue markings on his face's carapace. Shepard recognized them as indicating him to be a native of Palaven.

Shepard and her entire team retained a relaxed and calm demeanor, allowing Shepard to do most of the talking. "Humans aren't permitted into the C-Sec headquarters on business now?" Shepard snarked. "We are looking for Spectre Garrus Vakarian."

"Humans are allowed in here when they don't set off every alarm just by walking through the door." The Turian responded, seeming to relax now that he saw that the Humans before him were unarmed.

"You should be well aware that humans are very open to cybernetic and nano-tech implants by this point." Shepard retorted. "You mean to tell me that you've never interacted with a Human who had even the most minute cybernetic work done?"

"Usually they only set off the deep scanner that looks for illegal cybernetic modifications… you four set off everything." The Turian explained. "I've seen UHE military in here before, but none of them have ever been as heavily-augmented as you four… what are you? The scanners say that your brains are almost entirely covered in metal, and your neural activity is absolutely off the charts."

"Classified." Shepard responded, her expression neutral.

"I should have expected that answer…" The Turian said, shrugging. "You said that you're looking for Spectre Vakarian?"

"Indeed we are… do you happen to know where he is?" Shepard asked.

"You three can stand down and return to your posts." The Turian directed towards the two other Turians and the Salarian. The three others nodded, and left to return to whatever their jobs were. "You're lucky you caught me, Humans. I was just about to leave." He said, causing understanding to dawn on Shepard's face.

"Ah… so you're Garrus Vakarian." She said, nodding. "Well, I need to speak with you."

"No problem, I've got an office upstairs that we can speak in. I think the Spectre Quartermaster can wait for me just a bit longer." He said, giving the Turian equivalent to a smirk.

Shepard followed behind, eventually making her way into a small, relatively barren office with the Spectre. It housed a simple desk, a computer terminal, and a wall-spanning window behind the desk. Beyond that, it was completely Spartan and devoid of decorations. "A Spectre has an office in C-Sec?" Shepard asked.

"The Spectre whose official title is "Spectre Liaison to Citadel Security" certainly does." Garrus said, smirking as he leaned back against the desk. "What did you want to talk about?" He asked.

Shepard was immediately surprised by the laid-back nature of Garrus. She was used to Turians being very uptight and disciplined, Garrus seemed to be the opposite. "Well…" Shepard began, searching for the proper way to begin. "The Chancellor has asked my team and I to start assembling a multi-species task force with the permission of the Council… you were on the list of recommendations."

"Really…?" Garrus mused. "I guess I should feel honored. What's this task force for?"

"I'm sure you've heard the news of the attack on one of our colonies, Eden Prime?" Shepard asked, earning a nod from the Spectre. "We've determined that those responsible for the attack are The Collectors." Shepard explained, leaving out a rather crucial player in the attack for now.

Garrus practically choked on the breath he took in. "Wait… you mean like, the mythical Collectors that come out of the Omega Four relay?"

"The same ones." Shepard said, nodding.

"Well, count me in then." Garrus said, nodding.

"Really?" Shepard asked. "That quick?"

"Human, I've been stuck in a desk job as a Spectre for the past eight months." Garrus said, that smirk returning. "I'm going stir crazy."

Shepard chuckled. "Fair enough." She responded. "Welcome to the team, Mister Vakarian."

"Please, Mister Vakarian is my father." Garrus said, using a strangely human analogy. "Just Garrus." He thought for a moment. "And I never caught your name?"

"Commander Annalise Shepard, UHE Naval Special Warfare." Shepard explained. "Just Shepard or Annalise will do fine, though."

"Wait… Shepard?" Garrus mused. "Where have I heard your name before…?"

"Invasion of Palaven, maybe?" Shepard asked, half-expecting a visible wince from the Turian. Instead, she got a look of immediate recognition.

"Spirits… Commander Shepard?" Garrus asked. "The same Commander Shepard that probably saved by father and sister's lives?"

"Solana and Valein…" Shepard said, grinning slightly.

"By the Spirits…" Garrus said, sighing. "I didn't believe my father at first when he told me that a Human woman saved him… Thank you, Commander."

"No thanks are necessary." Shepard said, waving the thanks off. "Those troopers were out of line… _way_ out of line."

"Still, Shepard… were it not for you, the only family I have left would be dead." Garrus explained. "I really can't thank you enough."

"Like I said, I was just doing my job." Shepard said, smirking. "Now C'mon, I'll show you to the ship."

XXXXX

Shepard stepped through the docking port on the side of the _Normandy_ , the inside of the vessel once again bursting with activity as it prepared to leave its docking bay on the Citadel. Her team, along with Garrus, strolled onto the CIC deck. Garrus received no shortage of dirty looks from the crew of _Normandy,_ but Shepard's look quickly sent the crew back to their task at hand. As she and her fireteam passed, many of the crewmen gave a quick salute.

Passing the Galaxy Map, Shepard saw Specialist Chambers manning the communications terminal, engrossed in her work. Garrus marveled at the inside of the vessel, stunned by the sleek nature of the instruments and clean design philosophy. In terms of layout, it wasn't dissimilar to a Turian vessel. The only thing it was missing was the Turians. The Humans even looked strange. Some of the crew had full metal arms, legs, eyes, and other body parts. The few Marines on this deck that were guarding the door to the War Room were all outfitted with massive suits of exoskeletal armor, each of them hefting massive weapons that looked capable of repelling any sort of boarding threat. One of them crackled with blue energy at the barrel.

After being led into an elevator, which was notably faster than the Citadel's elevators, Garrus was greeted with the Crew Deck. There were humans bustling around the area. Some were sitting at mess hall tables laughing, some were sitting in some sort of lounge watching some sport on a screen, and a few were playing games at tables throughout the deck. What truly caught Garrus' attention was the Asari sitting at one of the tables, speaking with a Human in a formal military uniform.

As Shepard approached the table, the uniformed Human gave her a nod. "Everything checks out, Commander. Doctor T'Soni is cleared."

"Good." Shepard said, turning to Garrus. "Mister Vakarian, for posterity's sake, you'll just need to have a quick conversation with our resident Imperial Intelligence liaison."

"Make sure I'm not a spy?" Garrus asked, a Turian grin on his face.

"Something like that." The Imperial Intelligence agent said, a small smirk on his face. "Like the Commander said, it's just a formality, not meant to trap you or anything. I just need you to answer a few questions, then I'll be out of your hair… or carapace, I guess."

Garrus chuckled. "Fire away."

"You guys are dismissed." Shepard said, turning to her fireteam. With nods, lazy salutes, or wordless smiles, the N7 team dispersed and headed to their various corners of the ship. Alenko headed for the Starboard Observation Deck, Lawson headed for her office, Williams headed for the Port Observation Deck, and Shepard headed over to speak with Doctor T'Soni, who was simply standing there awkwardly.

"Doctor T'Soni, I hope Agent Leng wasn't too hard on you." Shepard said, startling the Asari slightly.

Liara shrugged, a very Human gesture that certainly made the conversation easier on Shepard. It was honestly stunning just how similar the Asari were to Humans in not only appearance, but mannerisms as well. "It's not anything I haven't been through before. I've worked with your scientists on Prothean artifacts before."

"I'm surprised you weren't questioning Javik on the flight to the Citadel." Shepard mused.

"Believe me, I tried." Liara responded with a small smile. "He was… less than open to conversation, to say the least."

Shepard chuckled. "He's the Joint Research Committee's problem now."

"Even if he was just a soldier, we can still learn a lot from him." Liara mused, sighing. "I still wish he was a scientist…"

Shepard smiled. "Did Joker show you to the non-Human quarters like I asked him to?"

"He did." Liara affirmed. "He's… a bit crude."

"Putting it mildly." Shepard agreed.

"Well, I'm going to go settle in." Liara said. "Thank you, Commander."

XXXXX

Garrus walked through the door and into the elevator, having just finished his question and answer session with Imperial Intelligence Agent Kai Leng. Garrus was honestly surprised with how… friendly the Agent was, not to mention the fact that he looked to be made almost entirely of metal.

After a short elevator ride, Garrus was in the hanger bay of the _Normandy_. He had done his fair share of research on the elusive history of the Human species, and knew that this vessel in particular was named after a famous beach in some place called "France". He assumed that this place was somewhere on their homeworld.

The hanger bay was surprisingly large for a frigate, housing a single massive shuttle, and two of the massive tracked vehicles that the Humans used. One was thinner than the other, and had thinner tracks. It looked almost similar to the MAKO, but housed a massive cannon on the top, and a hatch on the back, presumably to allow soldiers to enter and leave the vehicle. It was rather obviously some form of armored personnel carrier, but it looked like it also had an offensive armament, which was strange when compared to Council doctrine. Suspended from the ceiling by some sort of magnetic locking mechanism, was a rather infamous aircraft: The UFE-110 Strike Fighter.

The second tracked vehicle was massive. It had four individual and separate sets of tracks, each looking as though it could move independently from the others. It had a menacing main cannon, and was bristling with mounted machine guns. This vehicle, he definitely knew. It was the Humans' Stryker Main Battle Tank. The mere existence of such a vehicle was somewhat startling to Garrus at first, given that it sacrificed mobility and size in favor of heavy armor, heavy guns, and the ability to simply crush anything that stood before it under cannon fire or its treads. The tank, along with the APC/Tank hybrid, were both painted a clean black with the symbol of the UHE Marine Corps on their sides: a golden star with three chevrons beneath it.

The fighter was a menacing machine; positively bristling with ordinance pylons, heavy autocannons, and armored plating. It was the slowest fighter in the UHE's massive fleet of fighter aircraft, but it packed the biggest punch. Palaven natives knew the silhouette of this aircraft rather well, as its screaming descent was the harbinger of several thousand kilograms of explosive ordinance raining down like hellfire. It was painted a sleek silver, and had the Star and Wings of the UHE Marine Air Corps emblem emblazoned on the armored body of the aircraft. While Garrus was busy admiring the strange, almost violently beautiful nature of human engineering, he nearly missed the most interesting thing in the room: the two Human soldiers in the center of the hanger locked in a violent sparring match.

Both of the Marines in the cleared out center of the hanger bay were wearing all-black fatigues, and positively beating the daylights out of each other. Garrus looked over just as the taller of the two sent the bottom of his boot into the chest of his opponent. The kicked Marine pulled back a few paces, then sent a flurry of lightning-quick punches towards his enemy. Most were dodged, or simply blocked by equally-quick movements from the other Marine. One, however, connected with the orbital bone, earning a strangely satisfying crack.

After having his orbital bone very nearly broken by his shorter opponent, the taller Marine reared back, avoiding another punch. He leapt up, shifting his center of gravity slightly and wrapping his legs around the other's head, using the downward momentum of his fall to bring them both to the floor. The shorter Marine's uncovered head connected with the metal floor with a loud _clang_. The taller Marine, having landed on his knees, kept the other pinned down as he rained punches down on the laid-out soldier. As the pinned soldier attempted to retaliate, he grabbed the offending fist and wrenched it around, flipping him onto his stomach with ease and locking his appendage above his back in a _very_ uncomfortable position. After a few moments of struggling, the fallen soldier tapped the floor twice, signaling his partner to release his iron grip on the arm he was a mere movement away from ripping off.

"Nice try, chica." The taller of the two said, standing upright and helping the other to their feet. Now that neither were moving at light speed, Garrus could make out their appearance. The taller of the two was a beast of a man, tattoos covering his arms and the side of his face. His skin was slightly darker than most of the other Humans on the ship, and his hair was a jet-black and shaved down to a buzz cut.

The shorter of the two, absolutely destroying Garrus' assessment of the situation, was a woman with bright blonde hair, sporting a streak of black on one side, all tied back in a tight bun. She had almost bronze skin, and a very athletic build. "Oh, bite me, Vega. You've got the height advantage."

"That's what all the shorties say." The Marine, now known as Vega, said after helping the blonde to her feet.

"Looks like we've drawn a crowd." The blonde said, gesturing to Garrus, who was watching with deep interest.

"Well hot damn, it's the _Normandy_ 's resident Spectre." Vega said with a toothy smile. "Garrus, right?"

"Right." Garrus responded with a nod. "Not a bad fight, reminds me of sparring matches on Turian ships… yours just have a bit more blood." Garrus said, indicating the gash on Vega's orbital bone and the blonde's forehead.

"Eh, builds character." The blonde jested. Garrus could swear that their wounds were already healing, almost right before his eyes. "Cynthia Milana, by the way. UHE Marine Raiders Staff Sergeant."

"Lieutenant-Colonel James Vega." Vega added, nodding. "Commander of the _Normandy_ 's Marine garrison."

"Garrus Vakarian." Garrus bowed his head in a gesture of respect, the meaning likely lost on the Humans. "Some fight the two of you put on… your medical officer doesn't care that you beat the living crap out of each other?"

"Chakwas just deals with broken bones and bullet wounds." Vega said, waving a hand dismissively. "Implants handle the smaller stuff. What brings you to the Hanger?"

"Stowing away my weapons." Garrus said, gesturing to the Viper on his back.

"Wouldn't mind getting a look at that fancy rifle of yours, Vakarian." Vega said with a grin. "C'mon over to the table, no reason to stand around."

Garrus followed behind the walking hulk of a Marine, with Cynthia having already moved over to the table to sit down in a folding chair, kicking her feet up. Vega plopped down into one of the metal chairs, with Garrus sitting across the table from the two soldiers. The table itself was beneath a tarp that was suspended by a few metal poles and crates. It was cluttered with strange-looking weapon parts, playing cards, a pair of the UHE Datatools, and some weapon maintenance tools. "Cozy little spot." Garrus mused, laying his rifle on the table in its deployed form.

"The little spot that the Raiders chill in whenever we have downtime between ops." Cynthia said, pulling a cigarette from a pack on the table and sticking it between her lips.

"Raiders?" Garrus asked. "Is that some special forces group?"

"Ding ding ding." Cynthia said, cupping her hand over the cigarette to keep the light breeze that the ship's air filtration system circulated through the hanger away from the flame of her lighter. She let out a small puff of smoke before continuing. "Not surprised you haven't heard of us… not many have had the _esteemed_ privilege of fighting us before. And living to tell, that is. We're specialized for boarding operations and EVA warfare."

Garrus nodded, understanding the concept of boarding raids. Terminus pirates were notorious for raiding Salarian convoys. The idea of trained special forces for such a role was rather terrifying. "You Turians all serve in your military, right?" Vega asked, looking over the alien rifle on the table with interest.

"Yeah, it's required for everyone." Garrus explained. "I was stationed on the _Phalanx_ for my two years. Thankfully, I left before you guys stomped through half of the Galaxy."

Cynthia snorted in laughter. "Believe it or not, a lot of us veterans of the Second Contact War actually respect you as warriors. Ignore all of the looks from the techies, they've never even seen a battlefield through anything other than a screen."

"I thought all of you Humans hated our guts?" Garrus asked, leaning back and relaxing. Despite his being a Turian, he was rather enjoying the conversation with his homeworld's former occupiers.

"Only idiot non-coms who've never been on the front still hate you guys." Cynthia said with a grin. "The rest of us? It's more like… a healthy level of distrust."

"You two are alright with 'a bird' on your ship?" Garrus asked, a Turian smirk on his face.

"Eh, Shepard says you're alright." Cynthia continued. "I can't see you being a problem."

"You're the first Turian I've ever seen who hasn't given me a death glare, so you're alright." Vega added from his position over the Viper.

Garrus laughed. "I'm a _really_ bad Turian."

"Bad by Turian standards, cool by Human standards." Cynthia said , snuffing out her cigarette in a ceramic ash tray.

Despite Garrus' first impressions of the Human crew, which were mixed at best, he could tell that he'd be spending a good amount of his time in the Hanger. He rather liked the two strange Marines that seemed to practically live down here.

XXXXX

Shepard poked her head into the Port-Side Observation Deck. She spotted Ashley and the constant pair of engineers Donnelly and Daniels sitting at the poker table. They appeared to be engrossed in a very… vocal game of poker over a bottle of whiskey. Sitting on one of the couches, reading an e-book, was the woman she had been looking all over the deck for.

She quietly made her way over to the distracted comms specialist, sitting down on the cushioned seat. Traynor let out a startled yelp at the sudden appearance of her redheaded commander. "Hey, Sam." Shepard grinned, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hey, Annalise." Sam smiled, tossing her small tablet onto the table. As much as he was enjoying her reading, something _far_ more enjoyable just dropped itself in front of her. "Where're we off to?"

"Omega." Shepard answered. "Picking up a Salarian doctor and a mercenary."

Sam nodded. "More shore leave while you and the others run around?" She asked with a small smile.

"Absolutely not on that rock." Shepard said, her expression quickly becoming serious. "That shithole's filled with the worst this Galaxy has to offer."

"Oh… Is it that bad?" Sam asked, not too familiar with the Terminus systems.

"Filled with Batarian slavers, mercenary gangs, and complete anarchy." Shepard rattled off. "You guys are all staying on the ship. With any luck, we'll only be there a few hours."

After a short lapse in conversation, Shepard continued, placing her hand atop Traynor's, lacing their fingers together. "To make up for that… how about a date on the Citadel when we get back? Just the two of us?"

"That sounds wonderful." Sam smiled, leaning into the taller woman.

"It's a date then…" Shepard said, snuggling Traynor into her side.

"God, get a room, you two!" Ashley called out from the poker table, causing Sam's cheeks to redden at the sudden attention.

"Y'know what, I think we will." Shepard said, giving Ash a playful glare.

XXXXX

Shepard smiled as she pulled Sam into her quarters, the door automatically closing behind the timid girl. Before Sam could speak, she found herself cut off as her lips connected with Shepard's. She melted into Shepard's kiss, a soft moan escaping from her as the redhead pulled back. Sam immediately missed the contact when it was gone. "God… I miss being able to do that whenever I wanted."

Sam hummed an affirmative, still wrapped in Annalise's embrace. "The best six months I've had in a _very_ long time. So much more comfortable than the crew quarters."

"Why don't you bring your stuff up here?" Shepard asked, hopefully as she pulled Sam towards the couch. "It's lonely up here… all I have is the fish."

Sam glanced over to the fishtank, which was not populated with small fish from Earth. She started giggling, earning a cocked eyebrow from Shepard. "Oh my god… you actually got fish!"

Shepard smiled her normal soft smile, shrugging. "I had a fishtank… figured I should get fish." She sat down in the corner of the l-shaped couch, pulling Sam into her lap. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh…" Sam said, blushing at the thought of sleeping in the same bed as her commanding officer. Something about it was just wrong… in the best and naughtiest way, of course. That made it all the more appealing. "I-I thought you wanted to keep it professional? Whenever we're on the ship, at least."

"Would you prefer the Walk of Shame every time you 'showered' up here?" Shepard asked, pressing her lips on Sam's neck, causing the smaller girl's breath to hitch in the cutest way. Sam wasn't sure what was more embarrassing, the prospect of being spotted with disheveled hair and a messy uniform after coming down from Shepard's Quarters, or her reference to Shepard's… antics when she caught Sam just getting out of the shower. After another playful nip at her collarbone, she _definitely_ knew that it was the shower reference.

Not hearing a response from her… preoccupied girlfriend, Shepard spoke up again. "We can go down the elevator separately if I embarrass you that much." She joked.

"Why would you embarrass me?" Sam asked, seriously.

"Figured it might be weird if you _always_ came down the elevator with your CO." Shepard explained.

Sam gave her girlfriend a quick, chaste kiss. "Oh please, if anything, people would probably be jealous."

Shepard smiled. "Is that a yes?"

"We'll see…" Sam gave her half-answer, re-orienting herself and straddling Shepard's legs as she pressed their lips together. She could figure out her answer later. After all, she was fairly sure that she'd be making the Walk of Shame tonight. Right about now, she really didn't care about the potential future embarrassment. All she cared about right now was the _lovely_ vanilla taste of her love's lips.

As Sam felt a hand slip beneath her shirt, searching for the clasp of her bra, she _knew_ that she'd be making the Walk tonight.

 **Codex Updated:**

 **UHE Marine Raiders: Always Faithful, Always Forward. The Marine Raiders are the UHE's Elite Starship Marine Garrison. Specialized for ship-to-ship boarding maneuvers and extra-vehicular warfare, the Raiders are some of the Corps' most elite operatives. Outfitted with specialized nano-technology implants that enhance their performance on the battlefield, their tenacity on the field is only matched by the N7.**

 **UFE-110 Strike Fighter: The UHE's multi-role strike fighter. The 110 is designed to engage starships, as well as ground targets. Easily the slowest aircraft in the arsenal, it makes up for speed with the teeth it bears in the form of armaments. Outfitted with torpedoes, thermobaric bombs, nuclear arms, and precision strike munitions, they are more akin to tanks with wings than anything else. They are also armed with massive 50mm rotary-barreled autocannons for ground attack or limited air engagements.**

 **Nanotechnology: A relatively new development in the field of militarized augmentation for the Imperial Military. Nanotech is capable of performing feats that other forms of augmentation could never hope to achieve. This ranges from simple cosmetic changes for Intelligence agents such as changing hair and skin color, all the way to allowing human skin to harden upon impact from fast-moving projectiles and actively fighting bodily toxins. Still in its experimental stages, very few humans sport such high-end modifications.**

 **UHE-Council Joint Research Committee: The JRC is an organization created after the Second Contact War to allow for the joint study of Prothean artifacts between the Citadel Council and the Human Empire. According to the Treaty of the Citadel, all uncovered Prothean Artifacts are required to be brought to this committee for study, which is based on the Citadel and manned by a multi-species scientific team.**

 **Edit: Wow, I'm stupid. I totally forgot Zaeed was an N7 Autorifleman. Like I said, I tend to write late at night, my bad.**

 **Edit 2: Thanks for mentioning the actual name of Garrus' sister, Sheploo. I never had the chance to play the Shadow Broker DLC from ME2, so I missed all of the dossiers. I think I fixed all of the mentions of her from previous chapters, as well as this one.**


	14. Chapter 14: Omega

**Chapter 14: Omega**

Shepard stepped through _Normandy_ 's docking tube, the stench of Omega slapping her in the face. It smelled of poverty, filth, and utter piss. She was wearing relatively normal-looking clothing, having decided that wearing her normal armor or uniform _might_ draw all of the wrong kinds of attention. Omega was filled with refugees from the Human-Batarian War.

In the hopes of drawing slightly less attention, Garrus had joined her on Omega, all of the Spectre markings removed from his armor. He still had his Viper sniper rifle attached to the magnetic clamps on the back of his armor, along with a Predator pistol locked onto his hip.

Miranda joined the away team as well, due in no small part to her ability to operate unnoticed. She, just like Shepard, was wearing almost civilian clothing. She also wore concealed liquid body armor underneath her clothing, just as Shepard was. Both of the N7 operatives were carrying compact XP-88 Coilguns in concealed holsters under their clothing, along with the standard-issue serrated combat knife. Carrying anything more would undoubtedly give them away to any prying eyes. The handguns did exist in the Terminus, albeit rarely, so they would hopefully arouse less suspicion than carrying the AR-190 or an AR-19.

Shepard knew that they had already raised some suspicion simply by being here. The _Normandy_ was easily one of the largest vessels docked at the hollowed-out asteroid. Its design clashed with all of the Council Species doctrines, it didn't even have the vague appearance of a Council-pattern vessel. It would certainly seem that Shepard's fears of being noticed were realized almost the instant they stepped onto the station, as a Batarian in medium-weight body armor approached the trio.

"We don't usually see ships like yours here." He commented. Shepard's mind immediately started wondering how quick this Batarian was on the draw. "Welcome to Omega, Shepard." At Shepard's look, he smirked. "Don't look so surprised, we had your ship ID'd the moment you docked here. Courtesy of your friends from your Empire's intelligence division."

"Imperial Intelligence forwarded our arrival?" Shepard asked, unaware that Cerberus was operating on Omega.

"One of their representatives was meeting with Aria a few hours ago." The Batarian responded. "Not sure what about, but all I know is that Aria wants to talk with you at Afterlife."

"Thanks for the warning, I'll make my way over to Afterlife."

"Smart. It's not a good idea to keep the Queen of Omega waiting." The Batarian chuckled, nodding for Shepard and her company to follow him. "I'll bring you to Afterlife, should keep the Scavengers away from you."

"Scavengers?" Shepard asked, following the Batarian through the rather gloomy hallways, illuminated by sickly red lighting.

"Your kind calls them con artists." The Batarian said, keeping his gaze fixated in front of him as he opened the door into the central atrium of Omega.

Shepard's senses were assaulted by the red-tinted lighting of Omega, the stench of aliens all packed together like sardines. The sheer volume of people lined up to enter Afterlife stretched all the way to the halls leading to the Residential and Commercial district, packed with all manner of alien life. Just before the steps to the club, the Batarian spoke up again. "This is as far as I take you, Shepard." He turned to face the Human operative. "I've got to keep the Vorcha population in check, so I'm needed down on the lower levels. Aria will be on the balcony overlooking the main floor."

"Thank you." Shepard said, nodding.

The Batarian returned the nod, then strode off towards an elevator, where a pair of Turians and an Asari were waiting for him.

Miranda groaned in disgust as she walked behind Shepard, making their way up the steps and into the club. Seeing the pair of Humans and the Turian that were talking with one of Aria's people, the three Batarian guards at Afterlife's door allowed them in with no wait, much to the disdain of the massive crowd. "What a pisshole." Miranda commented, stepping through the door and into the long hallway. The sound of thumping bass and electronic beats could be heard, even through the thick metal walls.

"A far cry from the Citadel." Garrus agreed.

"No kidding." Shepard commented as she pointedly ignored the glare that a group of five Batarians were giving her.

As they stepped onto the main floor of Afterlife, all of them were shaken to their very bones by the loudly thumping bass, causing glasses on the central bar to rattle. The music overwhelmed their senses. Shepard was unsurprised to see that the club was occupied almost entirely by Council Species, but there were a few Humans thrown into the mix. Many of them appeared to be mercenaries, with a few of them wearing simple civilian clothes.

Shepard and Miranda both seemed to spot the same thing at the same time, both of them gaining a look of disgust on their faces. There were elevated platforms all around the main floor of the club, with metal poles in their center. A few Asari danced around on these platforms, twirling around the metallic centerpieces in flowy, seductive patterns. The Asari didn't disgust them, it was the fact that a few Human girls doing the exact same. All of them, Asari and Human alike, wore skintight reflective leotards, intensely high heels, and arm-length gloves; barely providing them any sense of decency. They barely even covered their chests, and exposed almost all of their legs, only covering the crotch and torso.

Neither were very surprised to see this, though. Both knew that almost every species in the galaxy found the Asari attractive. Due to their uncanny resemblance to Human women, that attraction must have carried over. Neither her or Miranda could fathom why some of these girls would be doing this. Most of them looked university-aged, scarcely even adults even by Human standards. As she looked around, Shepard was happy to see that more than a few of the Human patrons shared her sentiments by the looks of it. Many of them looked on, almost in pity, as members of their species paraded around to appeal to Alien sexuality.

Shepard shoved those feelings down, her expression returning to a more neutral one while Miranda's face remained twisted into a scowl. Garrus was the absolute picture of professionalism, scanning over every patron that passed them by with the clinical eye of a soldier.

Eventually, the trio made their way to the back of the main floor, where a staircase was guarded by a Turian. It led up to the balcony that the Batarian had mentioned, overlooking all of Afterlife. As they approached, the Turian nodded for them to head on up.

After ascending the L-shaped staircase, they saw a purple-tinted Asari standing over the railing, looking on as the partiers went about their business. She wore a white-black-red ensemble, that looked to have a small degree of armored protection. Shepard, Miranda, and Garrus all climbed the short stairway, finding themselves on the same level as the Asari and three of her guards. As she walked forward to speak with the Asari, she spoke up. "That's close enough."

At her word, all three of her guards drew handguns, pointing all of them at the trio. Shepard found a Carnifex handgun pointed directly into her neck. The Turian wielding the handgun was obviously an amateur, as the pistol was slightly angled sideways. Garrus found a Predator pointed at his face by an obviously-experienced Batarian, who was aimed directly for the flattened part of Garrus' carapace, just above his eyes. Miranda had a strange-looking weapon that Shepard could not recognize pointed directly at her center-mass by a young Asari. Miranda suppressed a laugh as she saw that the weapon's Thermal Clip was nearly empty.

After a few tense moments, where the Human operatives and the Turian Spectre simply stood, Aria nodded. All of her guards lowered their weapons, and the Batarian that was pointing his Predator at Garrus pulled up his Omni-Tool, and activated a bio-scan software. "Stand still." He ordered, a holographic silhouette of a Human woman being projected from the wrist-computer. Shepard, frankly, had enough with this. "Try that and you'll be scanning the inside of your colon." She said, glaring daggers at the Batarian, who completely missed his Omni-Tool's report on the several hundred augmentations that Shepard had.

Surprisingly, Aria let out a bark of laughter. "I'd almost pay to see that… but that isn't an option, Shepard. If you want to talk, you get scanned."

"Could've asked, instead of pointing a gun at me." Shepard said, relaxing her posture and letting the Batarian re-run the scan. All four of his eyes went wide at the vast array of cybernetics and biological augmentations that were buried beneath Shepard's skin.

"I… Think they're clean?" The Batarian said, unsure of himself as he read over the laundry list of augmentations, many of them simply showing up as "ERROR".

"What do you mean 'you think'?" Aria asked, turning around. "Either they have weapons, or they don't."

"They _are_ weapons." The Batarian responded, pointing to his readout. "Other than the hundreds of augs, they only have those Human XP-88s and knives. The Turian has his rifle, a handgun, and his Talons."

Aria hummed in response. "When your Empire's agent said that an officer would be here today, he never said that it would be the mythical N7. Welcome to Omega, Commander Shepard."

"I take it you run Omega?" Shepard asked, pushing Aria's assessment of the N7 Program away for the time being. Aria simply chuckled.

"I'm the boss, CEO, Queen, if you're feeling a bit more dramatic…" She began. "But Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule… Don't _fuck_ with Aria."

"I like it, easy to remember." Shepard responded with a small smirk as Aria turned to sit down on a black leather couch.

"Very few people forget." Aria said, motioning for Shepard to have a seat just down the couch. "And those who do? Well… someone will remind them."

"Then I get to toss your sorry ass out the nearest airlock." The Batarian guard commented, smirking.

As Shepard sat down, with Miranda and Garrus simply choosing to lean against the metal supports for the platform, Aria shifted to face her. "So… your Agent told me that you're looking for someone?"

"Two people." Shepard clarified. "Thane Krios, a Drell Assassin. And Mordin Solus, a Salarian scientist."

Aria nodded. "Well, Mordin will be easy for you. He has a clinic down in the Fifth Residential Quarter. I rather like him… he's just as likely to put a bullet between your eyes as he is to heal you."

"And Krios?" Shepard asked.

"He's… a bit more of an elusive one." Aria explained. "He's here on a Contract, came up to me a few days ago asking about an Ardat-Yakshi."

"Ardat-Yakshi?" Shepard asked, her translator not having an equivalent.

"You might call her a succubus." Aria explained. "Nothing leaves a body quite as… empty as an Ardat-Yakshi. Completely shuts down their victim's nervous system."

"So it's an Asari?" Shepard understood. "You haven't done anything about this?"

"Why would I?" Aria asked, innocently. "It's not like she's tried to fuck me. Her last victim was a young Human girl." Shepard gave a minute wince at this, something Aria took note of. "She was a pretty thing, lived in the tenements near here with her mother. I heard Krios had gone there yesterday morning, so that's where I'd start looking."

"Thanks for the help." Shepard said, standing up.

"And I thank your Empire for your business with Omega." Aria retorted with a small smirk. "I might be here if you need anything else."

With that, Shepard and her ground team made their way back down the staircase and onto the main floor of Afterlife. They headed for the hallway back into the atrium. As they walked, the group of five Batarians stood up to block them. The three stopped a few feet from the aliens. "You Humans think you own the Galaxy, huh?" One of the taller of the five asked. "You just stroll in here past the rest of us, acting like you own Omega too?" He was obviously growing irritated with Shepard simply staring at him with a disinterested look on her face. "The fuck are you looking at, Human?"

Shepard nodded to Garrus and Miranda, who immediately drew their sidearms alongside Shepard. "I'm looking at the four-eyed freak whose day I'm about to ruin." She said, silently keying her shield generator. One of the Batarians in the back of the group reached for a pistol strapped to his hip. With no hesitation, Shepard shifted her aim over to him and put a round through his leg, sending him to the floor. He was obviously the only armed one, since the others flinched rather heavily at the Human's lightning-quick movement.

"I-I don't want any trouble." The lead Batarian stammered out, seeing the blood pool from his friend's wound.

"It looks like you do." Shepard said, still glaring at the lead Batarian. "Might wanna scurry off before you wind up like your friends on Torfan."

"O-okay, I got stuff to do anyways. Let's go!" He said, him and his friends quickly gathering their wounded comrade and running off to the main atrium.

Wordlessly, Shepard slid her handgun back into its concealed holster beneath her shirt. "Damn, Shepard… that was cold." Garrus commented.

"Better than me just shooting all of them." Shepard responded. "They're all just angry drunks."

"You'd think they'd have learned after that thrashing we gave them." Miranda wondered, slotting her own pistol away.

XXXXX

"I trust you're enjoying your stay on a 'Primitive' world, Commander Javik?" Stratton asked, walking alongside the taller Prothean as they made their way towards his office, through the marble halls of the Imperial Legislature.

"Your kind has progressed greatly since our fall." Javik replied, not giving a straight answer. "It truly is impressive… against the entire galaxy, you emerged victorious. Your ships wield weapons that took our scientists centuries of research to replicate from destroyed Reapers, your soldiers surpass even ours in discipline, and you have mastered interstellar travel without Element Zero. How did your kind manage what no other has done?"

"Necessity." Stratton responded. "It was either adapt and grow, or stagnate on our dying world and wither into history."

"Thanks to your tenacity, the Reapers can be stopped." Javik responded, a small smirk on his face. "Your _Imperator_ 's fleet alone matches the firepower of half of the Prothean Armada at the peak of our power."

"If you like that, then you'll love the _Dying Star_." Stratton added with a smile.

"Is this a new class of warship?"

"Indeed…" Stratton responded, smiling.

After their stroll, the two had arrived at the large door to Stratton's office. As Stratton keyed his biometrics into the small console mounted into the wall, the door slid open. Much to Stratton's surprise, he saw Jack Harper standing by his desk. "Director, this is admittedly a surprise, what are you doing here?"

"Something's come up at Alpha Centauri." Harper responded. "An old starship drifted into our sensor range earlier today. It shows a wide array of AI heuristics based on our scans."

"The Reapers?" Javik asked.

Harper shook his head. "No… something different entirely."

"Is it the Geth?" Stratton asked, knowing full well that the Quarians and the Geth had _somehow_ managed to live together in peace on Rannoch for the past few months.

"No, this ship predates the Geth by thousands of years." Harper answered, tossing the Chancellor a small OSD. "That contains all of our analysis on the ship… there are no life-signs on board. The Admirals are awaiting your word."

"Have _Imperator_ dispatch a shuttle to the roof, if this is a First Contact scenario, it's only right that I'm there." Stratton answered. "Relay them the order to hold their fire unless fired upon. Have them hail that ship, find out what we're dealing with."

XXXXX

Shepard walked up to the metallic door that disconnected the small apartment from the rest of Omega. She keyed the small buzzer next to the doorframe, allowing a faint buzzing to sound from the other side of the thin metal. After a few moments of waiting the door slid open, revealing a short, slender Human woman with jet black hair and a black dress. Shepard could tell, thanks to her puffy red eyes, that she had been crying. Upon seeing the two Human women and the Turian, she looked to them and spoke. "A-are you here about my daughter? My Nef died two days ago, and no one seems to give a damn."

"That's why I'm here." Shepard answered, nodding. "Do you mind if we come in?"

"Of course." The woman responded, stepping aside and allowing the trio to walk in. It was a quaint little place. It had all of the standard furniture, but looked rather gloomy due to the poor lighting and the stuffy space station air. The woman sat down on the end of a long couch, her hands resting on her knees. "The medics said it was a brain hemorrhage, but that's not true!" The woman started to ramble. "It was murder! Someone killed my baby!"

"I think she was murdered too, and I'm looking for her killer." Shepard responded, choosing to remain standing.

"Oh my god!" The woman said, practically hysterical. "Thank you! It's so hard when nobody believes you. Especially these damned aliens." Realizing that Garrus was standing not five feet away, she quickly caught herself. "I'm sorry…"

"No, you're alright." Garrus said, his tone remaining even and level.

"Are you… are you Aria's people?"

"No…" Shepard began, deciding to be transparent with the grieving mother. "I'm Commander Shepard of the Imperial Navy. This is Lieutenant-Commander Miranda Lawson and Spectre Garrus Vakarian."

"You're with the Empire!" The woman gave the smallest of smiles. "Oh thank god… You'll actually help me! No one else on this hellhole of a station gives a damn that an innocent Human girl is dead."

"Believe me… I will do everything I can to find your daughter's murderer." Shepard said. "Do you mind if I ask a few questions? And feel free to stop me if I hit a nerve."

"Sure… ask away." The woman said, beckoning for Shepard to continue.

"Did… did your daughter have a lot of friends? People she regularly spent time with outside of the house?"

"Not really… she was shy, spent most of her time making her sculptures and listening to music." The mother explained. She let out a heavy sigh before continuing. "Something did change about a month ago, though. She started talking about this Asari, Morinth."

Shepard nodded, the pieces falling into place in her head. "Anything you can tell me about Morinth?"

"I hated her." The mother responded, looking distressed. "She kept dragging Nef out to Afterlife, and I'm almost certain she gave her drugs."

"Any idea what Morinth was like?"

"Never met her… Nef talked about her like she was some kinda queen, though. You'd swear that there wasn't anyone else in the whole galaxy when she talked about Morinth."

"That does sound about right." Garrus commented, nodding.

"You worked a case like this in the past, Garrus?" Shepard asked, turning to look to the Turian just behind her.

"Once, back on Zakera Ward." Garrus explained. "Sounds almost exactly identical… we never did find the person responsible, though."

"Y-you know who did this? You know who killed my daughter?"

"We've got a very good idea." Shepard started. "An Ardat-Yakshi… An Asari that causes complete shutdown of the nervous system of whoever they… meld with. They feed off of it."

"Oh my god…" The mother said, covering her mouth with a free hand that wasn't clenched against the fabric of her dress. "It's exactly what that reptile alien talked about…"

Shepard took note of that. "What kind of a girl was Nef?"

"She was the best daughter any mother could have ever hoped for…" The mother wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "She was shy, but she was so creative… so driven."

Shepard nodded. "Do you mind if I take a look around Nef's room? I won't disturb anything unnecessarily."

"I didn't want to move anything… clothes, art, even the sheets… Everything's the way she left it. The way it'll always be." A single, quiet sob escaped. "She's gone… my baby's actually gone…" As the tears started streaming down her face, Shepard couldn't quite help herself. Shepard walked over, quietly pulling the older woman into a hug. "T-thank you… it's just, it's just now clicking with me. My daughter's gone."

"I'm so sorry…" Shepard consoled. "I can't even begin to imagine what this must be like for a mother to lose their daughter…"

"Thank you…" The older woman said as Shepard pulled back, a hand still resting on her shoulder. "If it helps you at all, feel free to look through her things."

"We'll be respectful…" Garrus added. "We'll do our best to leave everything as we find it."

"Thank you…" The mother replied, actually smiling at Garrus. "And Commander?"

Shepard's attention shifted back to the mother. "Yes?"

"When you find that Asari… Are you going to kill her?"

"Absolutely." Shepard responded with a nod.

"Good… make this fucked station just a little safer for the other Humans that call this place home for whatever reason." The mother returned, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I'm glad that the Empire still cares about us."

"Whether or not you live in the Empire's borders, you're still a Human, and the Empire looks after its own." Shepard smiled, giving a short nod. "We're going to have a look through Nef's things. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."

XXXXX

"I still think that this is a monumentally stupid idea." Shepard said into her communicator as she walked towards the VIP Lounge of Afterlife. She had exchanged the pants, shirt, and vest that she had been wearing for a black, form-fitting dress that stopped mid-thigh. She didn't really mind the dress. What she really hated was the heels. She'd be fine if they were normal heels, she had to wear heels with her formal uniform after all, but they just had to be boots. Really uncomfortable boots, at that.

"This is how we found an Ardat-Yakshi on the Citadel when I was still working with C-Sec." Garrus replied, his shrug almost audible over the communication.

"Dress your Human partner up like a skank and send her into a club?" Shepard asked.

"The whole point is to catch the Asari's attention." Garrus explained, the sarcasm going straight over his head. "Ardat-Yakshi tend to be attracted to bold or creative people… so you really just need to be you."

"I'll be watching from inside." Miranda added. "I'll be sure not to let you out of my sight."

"And if she takes me back to her place?" Shepard asked, knowing full-well where this could go.

"I _do_ have a sniper rifle." Garrus responded.

Shepard wasn't quite sure what to make of that comment, but she really didn't have time to comment as she walked up to the door that was guarded by a Turian with an assault rifle. "Hold up there, Human." The Turian said, his assault rifle still slung around his back. "Only people with the right name are allowed into the VIP section."

"I did hear that this place was miles above the rest of Afterlife." Shepard responded.

"Sounds like a smart person… who told you that?"

"Jaruut." Shepard responded.

"Well, I'll be." The Turian said, smirking. "Another Human actually knows someone on this station. Go on in. Word to the wise, though. Don't start a fight, but it's alright to defend yourself if someone else starts shit."

"Thanks." Shepard said, walking in as the door slid open with a soft pneumatic hiss.

Shepard strolled through the foyer of the VIP club, finding a few members of other species strolling around the foyer talking with one another. There were a few Human mixed in, but they kept to themselves. Walking through the second door, the pulsing bass hit her like a truck. It smelled almost identical to a club she would frequent on Earth: booze, sweat, drugs, and dance. It brought her back.

As she stopped to look around, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Not quite expecting it, she turned around rather quickly, finding herself face-to-face with a young Asari whose skin had a light purple hue. She looked barely an adult by Asari standards, but she was likely far older than Shepard. "Excuse me?" The maiden asked as Shepard turned around. "Do you know where I could get tickets for Expel 10?"

"Expel 10?" Shepard asked.

"They're a sensory band." The Asari explained. "They crawl into you… make you feel things. This amazing Asari said that they were her favorite band, and I'm looking for tickets. They're playing tomorrow."

"Sorry, I don't have any tickets." Shepard said, quietly noting the mention of an 'interesting Asari'.

"If you happen to find some, I'd be more than happy to pay you for them." The Maiden said, hopeful.

"You'll be the first to know." Shepard said, turning and heading deeper into the club.

She looked around, seeing the mass of people congregating on the dance floor. Asari and Turians were the obvious majority, but there were a few Krogan, some Salarians, even a few Humans scattered around the area. There was even a Human bartender, obviously built like a soldier, which wasn't too surprising given Humanity's obsession with military service. She spotted a _stunning_ -looking Human girl dancing off in a corner of the dance floor. Sending a silent apology to Sam, she strode in her direction.

Shepard pointedly ignored an argument between an Asari dancer and a Turian. At least she tried to ignore it. That plan was shot down when the Turian commented at her. "How about you, sweetheart?" The alien asked, causing Shepard to glance over her shoulder. Indeed, the Turian was talking to her.

"Excuse me?" Shepard asked, crossing her arms.

"Asari broad doesn't seem to interested. _You_ on the other hand…"

"As appealing as a Bird might be, I think I'll pass… _'sweetheart'._ " Shepard responded. Before she could turn to continue on her way, the Turian spoke up again.

"You've got one helluva mouth on you, even for a Human… I wonder how good you are with it." Normally, she would have been able to shrug off a comment like that as just drunken locker room talk, but when she felt a four-fingered appendage brush along her waist, she snapped. "Invaders or not, you've got a great-" The Turian's words were replaced with a shout of anguish as Shepard reached over, grabbing him by the wrist and twisting it around. The Turian fell to his knees, only to find Shepard had no intention of merely pinning him to the ground. She wrenched against the grain, snapping his thin, bony arm with absolutely no resistance. Not content with simply denying the Turian his sense of touch, she yanked him forward, striking the side of his head with her knee. The Turian fell to the floor, limp and unconscious.

The revelers seemed to stop and stare for a moment, but then immediately went back to their business of partying once the fight drew to a close. "Thanks." The Asari dancer in question commented. "Security must've been asleep."

"No problem." Shepard said, wiping the side of her dress off in reflex. "Self-defense, right?"

The Asari smirked. "Security won't give you any trouble. If they do, tell them to ask Aelia about what happened."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Shepard said, smirking slightly at the idea of having such a civil discussion over the unconscious body of a Turian. "Let me know if anymore touchy Turians show up."

The Asari let out a soft giggle as she strolled off, swaying her hips just a _little more_ that normal.

Shepard still had a smirk on her face as she strolled over to the gorgeous Human girl that was dancing alone. She was gyrating her hips in the most enticing of ways, her arms held above her head. Shepard silently wondered just how this girl hadn't been noticed by anyone else. She stood at around Shepard's height, had long blonde hair that flowed down to the small of her back, and wore a crop top and a skirt that would have been a belt if it were any shorter.

As the operative danced with the veritable goddess of a woman, a small smile crossed the blonde's face. Shepard spoke up, using a pickup line that she had heard Ashley use on Miranda once before. "I think I'll dance over here. If you'd like, you can feel free to think I'm dancing with you."

"Now there's an enticing thought." The girl returned with a light laugh.

Shepard felt guilty, knowing that Sam would probably kill her if she saw this, but she had a mission to carry out. As beautiful as this woman was, she couldn't hold a candle to her Samantha. She lacked that… awkward cuteness that Sam had. This woman practically bled confidence.

Shepard wasn't quite sure how long she danced with the blonde, but eventually they found themselves parting ways, not before the blonde handed her number to Shepard. She was actually amazed by how easy that was.

After making herself known by putting a Turian in his place, dancing with a blonde goddess, and buying a round for everyone at the bar, she was almost prepared to give up. That was until she was walking back towards the exit, and found a pale-blue Asari leaning against a metal wall, wearing a skintight black bodysuit covered in straps and buckles. She had piercing grey eyes that seemed infinite in their depth. Shepard couldn't deny that she was absolutely stunning, despite the uncanny valley feeling she got. Not waiting for Shepard, the Asari spoke up. "My name's Morinth. I've been watching you; you're the most interesting person in this place."

"Really?" Shepard asked, a small smile on her face.

"Really." Morinth responded, returning the smile. "I've got a booth over here in the corner, why don't you join me?"

"I'd love to." Shepard said, following Morinth to her booth. It was quiet, out of the way of the rest of the club. The pulsing music could still be heard, but it was much quieter.

As Morinth slid into the cushioned leather seat, she began speaking. "You know, most nights here, there's no one interesting to talk to. Some nights though, there's someone like you. Why is that?"

"Similar interests, maybe?" Shepard guessed, sitting down across from Morinth. "I've been all over the galaxy."

"It changes you, doesn't it?"

"I love exploring… limitless possibilities out there."

"Like finding a hunk of rock with other, smaller hunks of rock orbiting around it?" Morinth asked with a smirk.

"Everywhere you go is a new chance, a new place, a different obstacle." Shepard said, leaning back.

"Fascinating… When I travel, I find myself in dangerous places… I take it you're the same?"

"Violent places? Yes."

"Violence is the surest expression of power." Morinth smiled.

"If you're the strongest, you have power."

"Something you Humans certainly seem to know quite well." Morinth leaned forward. "Did you fight?"

"I was on the front." Shepard affirmed, nodding.

"Palaven? Lusia?"

"Palaven and Torfan." Shepard answered.

"Amazing…" Morinth purred. "I've always wanted to see some of your kind more… intimately. All of the deep, throbbing pulses of a nightclub make for a wonderfully intimate setting."

"You like the music here?"

"Music like this speaks to the deepest, darkest parts of me… what about you?"

"I'm partial to a band called Expel 10." Shepard said, making a gamble.

"They crawl into my head and tear it to shreds… they're wonderful." Morinth agreed. "They're in concert tomorrow… maybe we should go together?"

"I'd love to see them… having you there would make that even better." Shepard said, sending another silent apology to Sam. She felt slimy, talking this way to an Alien, but she shoved those feelings down.

"Wanna get out of here?" Morinth asked, sounding excited. "My apartment's nearby."

"I'd love to." Shepard said, doing her best to mimic the sultry tone she uses around Sam. "Lead the way."

XXXXX

Shepard sat on the end of a long couch, Morinth sitting almost uncomfortably close. Shepard used every ounce of her willpower that she could muster to not show distaste. Morinth rested her arm against the back of the couch, leaning towards Shepard as she spoke. "You Humans have always fascinated me… you're not afraid to take what's yours." Shepard could see through the attempt to appeal to the innate Human nationalism, and simply shrugged it off.

Garrus' voice crackled to life over her communicator. "I'm heading up the staircase in the adjacent building, Shepard. Hold tight."

 _"_ _Hurry the fuck up, Vakarian…"_ Shepard thought to herself.

"Have you ever tried Hallex?" Morinth asked. "It does _wonderful_ things for the senses." Morinth traced a finger along Shepard's side, causing her muscles to tense. "There's a bottle of them over-" Shepard wasn't quite prepared for what happened next, not like she expected the window to shatter and for Morinth's skull to split open.

It took a moment for her senses to catch up to the sudden burst of activity that suddenly found itself in the room, taking the form of a reptilian alien wearing a long black coat of some sort that crashed through the window, firing a single, perfect shot through the side of Morinth's head. The Drell rolled, coming to his feet after reorienting himself on the floor. Shepard made out the faint purple aura of a biotic field surrounding the Drell.

He looked over to the stunned-looking Human in a black dress, noting almost immediately that she wasn't screaming, or cowering, or trying to shoot him. His black eyes scanned over her, noting that she had taken an almost prepared stance with a very professional form, even when in heels. He could tell that she was trained exceptionally well to react that quickly. Instead of shooting, he decided that discussion might be a better alternative than fighting a Human. He had never killed one, even through all of his years, and he had no plan to start now. "Your appearance was an unexpected, but welcome distraction, Human." His raspy, dry-sounding voice came out. "Despite your assistance being unintentional, I thank you."

"I take it you're Thane Krios?" Shepard asked, relaxing her stance slightly.

"I am." Thane responded, his answer succinct and wonderfully to the point. Shepard could immediately tell that she liked him. "Though few know me, fewer have ever sought me out with the intent to speak. Why have you?"

"I'm assembling a team." Shepard answered, fully relaxing. "My name is Commander Annalise Shepard, Imperial Navy Special Warfare Commander and N7 Operative."

"You are assembling a team, and including non-humans?" Thane asked, confused. "Why have you sought me out in particular? And what is the objective of this team?"

"Your dossier was given to me by Chancellor Stratton, who learned of you from the Council." Shepard answered, turning down her communicator as Miranda and Garrus both shouted in her ear. She motioned to the adjacent building, sending the hand gesture for "get over here". "As for what this task force is meant for, I'm afraid I can only share that with you if you agree to work with us."

"Instead of seeking a soldier, you seek an assassin." Thane noted.

"We're recruiting the best that this galaxy has to offer, Human or not." Shepard answered. "Your skills fit the bill."

Thane seemed thoughtful for a moment, glancing down to Morinth's body. "Well, I suppose that since you assisted me with my target, albeit inadvertently, I can assist you with yours… free of charge." He added with a small smirk.

"Excellent." Shepard said, extending her hand. Thankfully, it appeared that Thane was at least somewhat familiar with Human customs, as he shook her hand in response. "Two of my teammates will be here shortly, then we can bring you to our ship so you can settle in."

"The large Human vessel in the docking clamps?" Thane asked, earning a nod from Shepard. "I suppose that explains why there is a Human ship here, especially so soon after another had left. Will we be leaving immediately?"

"No, I still need to find a Salarian doctor, Mordin Solus."

"Ah, the Salarian that established a free clinic in the slums…" Thane commented. "I'm quite familiar with him. I can join you in finding him, the path to his clinic is trecharous."

"How so?"

"The three mercenary companies on Omega: Blood Pack, Blue Suns, and Eclipse are undergoing a territory war in the area. It has generated quite a large clientele for the good doctor, it is unlikely that he will be willing to leave until the violence stops and the situation is stabilized."

"Since you know the station far better than any of my crew, I'd be glad to have you join us." Shepard said. "We're still going to stop by the _Normandy_ , I'm not going into a gang war in heels and a dress."

"A sound decision." Thane agreed.

 **Codex Updated:**

 ** _Dying Star:_** **[CLASSIFIED]**

 **Alpha Centauri: The first of Humanity's interstellar colonies, as well as the largest of them. The System's resident Garden World, officially named Destiny, is only matched in population and defenses by Earth. It houses a population of 15 billion Humans, a defense fleet of over 900 capital-class vessels and 1,100 smaller spacecraft. It is often referenced as being a paradise world, along with its moon, which was terraformed following the colonization of Destiny.**

 **Destiny is home to the largest Imperial War Academy in Human space, as well as serving as a core world for the vast Empire. It is an industrial and economic powerhouse, being responsible for the construction of a vast amount of the UHE's required military equipment and vehicles.**

 **Destiny is a planet 1.5x the size of Earth, and is over 80% land. All of the planet's water is clean, pure, drinkable water, which has allowed for the massive population.**

 **Human Core Worlds: There are four Core Worlds in the Human Empire. The first, and the Capital, is of course Earth. The second is Destiny, housed in the Alpha Centauri system. The third Core World is housed in the Wolf-1061 System, and is known as Atlas. The fourth is housed in the Kapteyn System, and is known as Odyssey.**

 **These four worlds make up the core of Human space, and house almost half of the collective Human populace. There is a long-standing debate in the Imperial Legislature to include the Europa System into these Core Systems, as Europa is the primary shipyard for the Imperial Navy.**


	15. Chapter 15: The Galactic Migrators

**Chapter 15: The Galactic Migrators**

Shepard huffed as she walked into the elevator in the back of the CIC. She absolutely hated the fact that she was still wearing this dress and uncomfortable pair of heels. When she had returned to the ship with the newest member of the task force, all she could think about was going to her cabin, getting into some armor, grabbing a gun, and getting Solus off of this rock.

She had tunnel-visioned so intensely that she had almost forgotten that Thane was still a few steps behind her, taking in the deck of the _Normandy_ with an appraising eye. He followed her into the elevator, and she keyed the button that would send them to Deck 3. "Where should I store my things?" Thane asked.

"We have a non-Human barracks set up on the Crew Deck." Shepard explained, "You've got free access to the Crew Deck, the Hanger, and the CIC with the exception of the War Room." Thane nodded, beckoning Shepard to continue. "After you're settled in, Agent Kai Leng will brief you on the mission and evaluate you. It's just a formality."

"Of course." Krios said with another curt nod. As the elevator door opened, Krios stepped onto the Crew Deck and made his way towards the marked non-Human barracks. With her role as pathfinder concluded for the time being, she pressed the button for Deck 1, sending the elevator towards her cabin after a quick biometric confirmation.

After another short elevator ride, she stepped off of the elevator, and found herself standing before the door to her quarters. She pressed a hand to scanner, causing the screen to blink with a green light before signaling the door to open. As she stepped inside, something immediately felt off.

As she looked around, she found a second footlocker to be resting at the foot of her bed on the other side of the room, with something vaguely resembling a certain Specialist's uniform sitting on top, neatly folded. She let a small smile cross her face as he heightened senses detected movement from the L-shaped couch sitting behind the wall between the office space and the living area.

She descended the steps, heels lightly clicking against the metal stairs. Just as she suspected, Sam was sitting on her couch. Samantha immediately perked up at the sight of her redheaded lover. "My word, Shepard… you clean up well." Sam gave a small, devilish grin at the sight of her commander in heels and a form-fitting dress.

"I see you decided to take me up on my offer." Shepard said, strolling over and sitting down next to Sam, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"How could I resist?" Sam asked, letting herself be pulled into an embrace. "Especially if you come back dressed like that."

Shepard smiled. "I don't know what it is with the Asari and tight clothes, but I'm glad at least you like it. Might have to wear it more often now that I know you like it so much."

"And you're _actually_ wearing makeup…" Sam commented, noting the light blush, black eyeliner, and black eyeshadow. "What's the occasion?"

"Oh, you know…" Shepard began, smiling. "I just wanted to make sure I caught your eye."

"And you're doing a fine job at that." Sam agreed.

"How're you liking our quarters, Sam?" Shepard asked.

"Having hot water and some privacy certainly is nice." Sam admitted. "I can't help but feel bad, though. The rest of the crew's all sleeping in the crew quarters on Deck 3."

"Well, if they wanted the Captain's Cabin they should've been as cute as you are." Shepard smirked, placing a kiss on Sam's cheek.

"I still can't believe this is happening…" Sam said, chuckling. "I'm actually in love with my commander."

"And she loves you back." Shepard pressed her lips to Sam's, positively melting the girl in her arms.

Sam savored the vanilla taste on her lover's lips for as long as her lungs would allow, eventually pulling back and drawing in a much-needed breath, Shepard's hand removed itself from her hair, moving down to cup her cheek. Sam noticed a very familiar and _very_ welcome desire in those green eyes, causing Sam's heart to stop for a moment.

A devilish smirk crossed Shepard's lips. "Well, now that I've got you _thoroughly_ excited… I'm going to get my armor on."

"Huh…?" Sam asked as she was lightly kissed on the cheek, just as Shepard stood up and walked towards the sealed locker that contained her armor.

"I'm going to get Solus, then we can finally get off this rock." Shepard said, reaching behind her back and fumbling with the zipper of her dress for a moment before her fingers finally caught it. "Maybe then we can finally go on that date I promised?"

Sam chuckled as Shepard sent her a quick wink, allowing the dress to fall to the floor. "You're such a tease."

"I know." Shepard smiled, setting about the slightly arduous task to assembling her armor.

XXXXX

Stratton sat in the Commander's Chair on _Imperator_ 's bridge as the ship shifted out of FTL. His eyes scanned over the sensor data coming in from the ship's LIDAR and Subspace Sensor equipment. A small fleet of Wolf-Class Destroyers and Ares-Class Battlecruisers encircled a small vessel, no more than a few hundred meters in length. He could easily tell by the bulky, bulbous construction that it was a rather primitive design, lacking an Eezo core or any form of FTL drive. What it did have was a _huge_ internal network that seemed heavily encrypted.

Stratton directed his attention to the Comms officer, who shouted out over the hum of activity on the Bridge. "Chancellor, the Fleet reports that all attempts to contact the vessel have been met with silence. All attempts to breach their firewalls, even with AI support, have also failed."

"A primitive ship stopped our Electronic Warfare?" Stratton asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Patch me through the hailing frequency." Stratton ordered. "Run all comms through all known language codices."

"Done sir, you're online." The Comms Officer declared.

Stratton took a deep breath, speaking through the ship's communications systems. "Unidentified vessel, this is Chancellor Stratton of the Human Empire. Knowingly or otherwise, you have drifted into Human Space. Respond immediately or steps will be taken to remove you from our space."

Fully expecting the same treatment that the fleet had received before his arrival, Stratton was pleasantly surprised to hear his Comms Officer shout out again. "Sir, they've responded."

Stratton tapped a few keys on his chair's display, bringing their response up on his console. He was surprised to see their response had come in the form of a series of 1s and 0s. "Binary…?" Stratton wondered to himself, applying a translator software to the response. He read over the rather surprising response, which had apparently been translated from an old dialect of Prothean.

 _"_ _We gravely apologize for entering your space, Chancellor Stratton. Our ship has been un-maneuverable for some time."_

"Why is your ship drifting?" Stratton asked, switching the translator over to the Prothean codec.

 _"_ _We have run out of propellant in our main engines, and have been drifting on secondary EM Engines for twenty thousand of your years"_

That legitimately surprised the Chancellor. A ship adrift for twenty thousand years, somehow was still operable. "How far from home are you? We could bring you back to your world."

 _"_ _We are afraid that is no longer an option, Chancellor Stratton. Our home has long-since been destroyed by the natural order."_

"This natural order being?"

 _"_ _Our species attained spaceflight in the later years of our star's lifespan. Our mission, the first colony mission of our people, was the last."_

"How are you still alive? Cryogenic stasis?" Stratton asked.

 _"_ _We are not… alive in the way that you would understand. In order to survive, we were forced to become one with our vessel. All of the minds aboard this ship are one, yet different."_

"Hmm…" Stratton hummed, understanding the rather cryptic answer. "You uploaded your consciousness into a computer?"

 _"_ _Yes."_

"Well… that certainly complicates things." Stratton muttered. "Would you be willing to be brought aboard my ship?"

 _"_ _Do we have a choice?"_

"Do you want to stay adrift?"

 _"_ _No."_

"Then I suppose you don't have a choice." Stratton said, a grim smile on his face. "We'll bring your vessel aboard, wait one."

XXXXX

Now Shepard felt at home. Her normal N7 Armor was softly whirring as she walked. Garrus and Thane were walking alongside her, Garrus wearing his heavy Spectre-grade armor and Thane wearing his normal black outfit. They all carried their normal weapons, Shepard had her AR-190, XP-88, and combat knife. Garrus had his M-97 Viper and Predator Handgun. Thane had a simple pistol that Shepard had never seen before. Thane had referred to it as a Phalanx.

Thankfully, the short walk to the elevator connecting to the residential block that they were heading to didn't expose them to too much of Omega's local populace, but the few that did spot the trio gave Shepard a glare as she passed. Thankfully, they were smart enough to keep it at dirty looks.

As they walked up to the elevator, they were surprised to see a Turian in light armor standing in front of the door, bickering with an Asari. "Why won't you let me through?! My apartment's just outside the door!"

"Get lost, lady." The Turian sighed. "The turf war has the whole sector locked down."

"My apartment is literally fifteen feet from the door!"

"Something wrong?" Shepard asked, walking over and grabbing the bickering pair's attention.

"Merc companies are fighting on the residential district." The Turian explained. "Aria's ordered the whole sector locked down."

"I need to get to Mordin Solus." Shepard said, keeping her tone neutral. "Aria knows about this."

"Yeah, Aria told me that a Human would be heading through here earlier." The Turian said, appraising the Human and her entourage. "Alright, you look like you can handle it."

"What?!" The Asari shouted. "You're letting them past and not me?"

"You're not a walking tank, lady." The Turian rebutted. "Get outta here." With that, he stepped aside and allowed Shepard, Thane, and Garrus onto the elevator.

"Thanks." Shepard said, walking past the Turian.

As Shepard pressed the key corresponding to the level that Mordin's clinic was on, the elevator door closed, and she pulled her AR-190 from the magnetic plate on her back. "Any rules for us, Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Shoot anything with Mercenary colors." Shepard said, the coils of her rifle humming lightly.

After the short elevator ride, the three made their way past a small cordon set up by Aria's people, who waved them through after the elevator guard confirmed who they were. It was a relatively straight shot to Mordin's clinic, but their way was apparently blocked by the thickest of the fighting. All three of the mercenary groups had met at this level for what seemed like their largest assault yet. They didn't have to walk far to see the destruction they had wrought.

Entire streets were covered in blast marks, bullet holes pockmarked walls and windows, and corpses littered the streets. There were bodies belonging to all three Mercenary groups laying everywhere. The scratchy red hue of Blood Pack, the yellow armor of the Eclipse, and the blue-white of the Blue Suns had all met here at some point. She couldn't figure out who the victor was.

The three proceeded through the first street in an orderly arrowhead formation, with Shepard taking point and Garrus and Thane covering the flanks. After entering through the first of many doors that they would pass, they found a Blue Suns patrol to be walking the streets, armed with a myriad of Council weapons. They had obviously heard the door hiss open, as all of them turned to face the three new arrivals. "Human!" One of the Turian Mercs shouted, raising his weapon.

"Holy shit!" One of the Batarians shouted. "That's N7 Armor!"

Shepard raised her rifle, firing a slug through the Batarian's faceplate. As the Batarian fell to the floor, the five other Mercs opened up on the N7 Operative and her company. Thane quickly threw out a Biotic Pull before sliding into cover behind an overturned Skycar, his Barriers taking a few hits. Garrus fired off a concussive shot from his Viper, blasting one of the Turians in the chest and sending him flying across the street. Shepard stood there for a moment, taking a few shots to her armor's shields. She managed to fire a quick burst into the Pulled Turian's chest, shattering his shields and splintering his armor. She threw herself into cover next to Thane.

"Garrus, on my mark!" Shepard pulled a fragmentation grenade from her combat harness. Garrus mirrored her, pulling a disc-shaped grenade from his own armor. "Mark!" She shouted, tossing the cylindrical object over the upturned Skycar. Garrus stood up, tossing the disc at the nearest enemy. The two grenades detonated within one second of each other, the differing fuse times between Human and Council grenades causing a bit of delay for Garrus' grenade. Shepard's succeeded in forcing a Turian out of cover, while Garrus' simply pulverized the insides of one of the Mercs.

Thane simply stood, firing a trio of perfectly-placed shots that struck the three remaining targets directly in the head, knocking out their shields. The three stunned Mercs then found themselves peppered by rounds from Shepard's and Garrus' rifles, their weak civilian-grade armor doing little to stop the Human assault rifle and the Spectre-grade marksman rifle.

Shepard used her enhanced senses to check for the sound of footfalls or shouting, and was pleasantly surprised to find no reinforcements to be on their way from anywhere nearby. She did, however, hear the Turian that was struck by Garrus' concussive shot choking on his own collapsed lungs. "We're clear!" Shepard shouted, standing up and checking the small display on her HUD for her rifle's ammo. Satisfied that her mostly-full magazine would suffice, she walked over to the writhing Turian that was coughing purple blood onto his helmet's translucent visor. Wordlessly, she pulled her handgun from its holster and put a single slug through his head, ending his suffering. "Keep moving!" Shepard ordered. "Eight more blocks to go."

XXXXX

Lucassen sighed, leaning against the metallic wall of the Human Embassy aboard the Citadel. The embassy staff went about their daily routine, filing paperwork and ensuring that any diplomatic issues were sent back to Earth for a hearing in the Senate, where it would then be passed to the Chancellor. Why he was assigned to the security detail of a Human scientist from the JRC was beyond him.

After his short expedition to the Red Planet, they did indeed uncover Prothean ruins. They appeared to be an information archive, and held a wealth of information. Historical texts, scientific data, star charts, data on primitive Earth life, and a veritable mountain of useful data from planetary scans. After the initial discovery, the data from the archives was brought to the JRC for study in accordance with the Treaty. Naturally, they had kept the data on primitive Earth life for themselves.

Lucassen's attention was grabbed by a pair of Batarians that walked through the Embassy's glass door. It wasn't uncommon to see aliens in the Human embassy, especially with the amount of civilian shipping that had to pass through Imperial space, which required permits and Visas from the Embassy on the Citadel. He simply assumed them to be captains of shipping vessels… he couldn't have been more wrong.

Lucassen was thrown to the ground as the Batarian's suicide vest detonated, sending sharpened glass shards and metal shrapnel in all directions. Through the ringing in his ears, he could faintly make out the sound of water lightly splashing against the floor, and a droning fire alarm. As his double-vision faded, he was indeed sprawled out on the floor, a piece of metal lodged in his shoulder. His implants and the adrenaline rushing through him dulled the pain enough to keep him functioning. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, almost stumbling straight back onto the floor.

The detonation had set off the fire suppression system in the embassy, the sprinklers dousing every inch of the expansive building in water. The security checkpoint by the front was blasted to nothing, the receptionist's desk receiving a similar fate. The receptionist herself had been thrown back, much of her skin charred black by the explosion. There was very little that could be done for her, considering the circumstances.

The pair of Imperial Guardsmen that had been standing guard by the door had been thrown through the glass windows, their armor being the only thing keeping them in one piece. Despite that, it was likely that they had serious internal injuries. A few of the alien visitors to the Embassy had been either injured severely or killed outright by the blast. The corpses of Humans joined the bodies of Turians, Asari, Salarians, Volus, and a Raloi on the floor. Imperial Guardsmen from all over the Embassy rushed to the entrance, their intricate rifles gripped in their hands. Speaking to one another through their neural network, eight of them ran out into the Presidium to keep civilians at bay, while twelve others set about to treating wounds. Lucassen joined them in tending to the wounded, his training as a Corpsman kicking in.

In two minutes flat, eight C-SEC Skycars landed by the Human Embassy. The C-SEC Officers joined the Imperial Guards in keeping the civilians away, while medics rushed in to assist the other Guardsmen and Lucassen, who was applying a tourniquet to an Asari's arm. Much to the operative's surprise… it didn't feel like his arm was bleeding.

After he had finished tending to the Asari, he chanced a look to the shard of metal that had buried itself in his shoulder. Indeed, his uniform lacked any blood stains. Curiosity getting the best of him, he reached up with a gloved hand, wrapped it around the metal, and yanked it out with a pained grunt. Forcing back the bile in his throat, he spread the black nanoweave fabric of his uniform to inspect the wound more clearly. A sickening sense of dread overtook Lucassen as he looked into the wound.

He didn't find bloodied muscle and bone as he had expected, what he found was markedly different. He saw bundles of synthetic muscle fiber that had been torn by the shrapnel, which had buried itself down to his "bone". What functioned as his bone was clearly a metal alloy that had been painted white. There were no arteries, no veins, no flesh… just metal, plastics, and synthetics.

He was so, absolutely, completely stunned that he had forgotten to draw in breath for a few seconds. After this, he wasn't even sure if he needed to breathe at all.

"Operative!" Lucassen's trance was broken as one of the Imperial Guards shook him by the shoulder, taking care not to grab his wounded left shoulder. "Relax, I'm here to fix your shoulder." The Imperial Guard was surprised by Lucassen's stunned flinch as he shook him.

"I'm not…" Lucassen muttered, finding himself cut off by the Guardsman.

"Just because you've got nuts and bolts doesn't mean that hole in your arm's gonna fix itself." The Guardsman answered, pulling a medical kit from his combat harness. "Hold still."

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Lucassen complied and remained still as the Guardsman set about to repairing the damage done by the stray metal fragment. As the wound in his shoulder was bound by a sterile bandage, Lucassen glanced out to the street. Beyond the barricade of Skycars, Guardsman, and C-SEC officers, a crowd had gathered. A news crew was outside, broadcasting the event. He sighed, all of his nerves on rapid-fire.

"All done." The Guardsman said, pulling Lucassen to his feet. "Get back to it, we're not done here yet."

Lucassen took a shaky breath, returning to treating the few wounded that hadn't already been tended to by the Medics or Imperial Guardsmen. His hands were shaky, and his mind in a million places at once. His training was the only thing keeping him focused. He simply blocked out those thoughts, and kept working.

XXXXX

"Sniper!" Shepard shouted, the high-caliber round impacting millimeters from her head. A moment later, Garrus' rifle barked as he returned fire on the Eclipse sniper.

Shepard and her away team had stumbled into a firefight between the Blue Suns and Eclipse, and the Blue Suns were hilariously outmanned and outgunned. Shepard's team had approached the Blue Suns from the rear, and dispatched them before they even had the chance to turn and face them, but the Eclipse mercs were at range and had been peppering them for the better part of five minutes from afar.

"Shepard!" Thane shouted, throwing up a barrier just in time to absorb a volley of gunfire from the entrenched mercenaries.

Wordlessly, Shepard flipped the canted sight on her rifle's left rail open. She leaned out, firing another 40mm HE grenade at the Eclipse line. This one impacted directly on the chestplate of an Asari's armor, thanks to the fact that the incoming fire was blocked by Thane's barrier. The grenade detonated upon contact, throwing the Mercenary back and absolutely shattering her. The rest of them were thrown aside by the concussion, giving Shepard, Thane, and Garrus the opening they needed to advance.

Shepard broke cover, pushing up with her rifle trained forwards. As one of the Salarians attempted to stand upright, she slotted two rounds through his right eye in quick succession. The wounded sniper managed one more shot at the N7 Operative, which managed to breach her slightly-depleted shields and impacted on her armor. The armor absorbed much of the impact, but she still stumbled as the high-velocity slug slammed into her torso.

Thane reached out with a biotic shockwave, sending the remaining four mercenaries into the air and tumbling to the ground. Garrus tossed a fragmentation grenade over their makeshift cover. The blast finished the remainder of the mercenaries off. "Sensors show area clear!" Shepard declared, slotting a new magazine into her coilgun. "Let's move!"

Shepard stepped over the waist-high barricade, the mangled bodies of Eclipse mercenaries littering the area. Thane and Garrus followed close behind as she opened the door. On the other side, the street was completely empty and bare. On the other end of the boulevard there was an entrance to a building that was guarded by a pair of humanoid drones armed with civilian-grade rifles. All around the boulevard there were civilians of all species walking the streets, armed with low-grade weaponry. It was obvious that they were operating as some form of civilian militia, as none of them showed any outward hostility towards the N7 Operative and her team. Despite not being hostile to her, all eyes on the street turned to look at the Human in heavy powered armor, the Turian Spectre, and the Drell assassin.

"What do you want, Human?" A Krogan asked, stomping over to them. He was obviously the leader of this ragtag militia, given that he was the only one armed with a military-grade weapon, full armor, and had his fair share of battle scars. He spoke in the deep, rumbling tone that Krogan were known for, and he certainly had an intimidating presence.

"I need to speak with Professor Solus." Shepard answered, keeping her weapon lowered.

"You blasted your way through a warzone just to talk to the doctor?" The Krogan inquired, eyeing Shepard with a clinical eye.

"Evidently, it's important." Shepard deadpanned, having lost her pension for conversation after her eight hours on the Galaxy's cesspit.

Much to her surprise, the Krogan let out a throaty laugh. "I like you, Human. You know what you want, I can respect that. Keep that fancy gun of yours away from my people and we won't have any trouble." In a gesture of peace, he placed his heavy shotgun back onto its retention clip on his back.

Shepard mirrored the gesture, collapsing her rifle and attaching it to the magnetic strip on her back. "You'll find no trouble from us." She said, letting her stance slack a bit.

"Glad to hear it." The Krogan smirked. He thumbed a gesture towards the building on the end of the street, guarded by the two drones. "Solus is in the Clinic, past the two fancy mechs."

"Thanks." Shepard said, nodding towards Thane and Garrus, who followed close behind.

As she stepped past the two security mechs, the clinic's main waiting area came into view. It was quite clear that the clinic had nowhere near the staff needed to tend to all of these wounded. There were dozens of people from all species, some of them lightly burned, and some with devastating gunshot wounds. The meager staff ran to and fro, doing their best to attend to everyone's needs. There was a single Salarian sitting behind a reinforced glass window, a small speaker being his only method of communication with the outside.

"What do you need, Human?" The Salarian asked, catching her attention with his rapid-fire speech.

"I'm looking for Professor Solus." Shepard answered.

"Ah, of course." The Salarian said, pointing towards a closed door on the other end of the clinic's waiting room, past a few Turians laying on gurneys. "He's in the lab, just down there."

"Thank you." Shepard said, making her way towards the aforementioned lab. She took care not to disturb the medical staff or the patients as she moved through the room. As she approached the door to the lab, the old rusted door slid open, revealing a relatively well-stocked laboratory and storage area. There was a single Salarian in the room, hunched over a computer terminal and typing away as fast as his four-fingered hands would allow. He was obviously too engrossed by the alien text on the screen to notice the door open, as he didn't so much as glance at Shepard as she walked in.

"Professor Mordin Solus?" She asked, catching his attention. With a quick tap of her Datatool, her helmet quickly folded back in on itself, collapsing into her neck armor and revealing her face

He looked over to her, standing upright. "Ah… Human." He began, his mono-color eyes widening as he looked to the armored Human before him. "Don't recognize you from area, too well-armed to be refugees from the conflict outside. No mercenary uniform, lockdown still in effect. Hired guns, maybe? Crew to clean out mercenaries?"

Shepard smirked, watching Mordin's scientific mind formulate thousands of ideas on "why" a Human in heavy armor, joined by a Turian and Drell, just walked into his lab. "Relax Professor, I'm Commander Shepard: Imperial Navy. I'm forming a task force under the orders of Chancellor Stratton, and we need your help."

"Hmm… strange." Mordin wondered aloud. "Human Empire highly xenophobic, rarely see your kind outside of your space. Alien involvement surprising, especially Turian… high racial tensions. Unlikely to help a Human-centric mission."

"This mission goes far beyond Human interests, Professor." Garrus piped up from behind Shepard. "We all have to work together."

"Surprising, Humans assisting other species in goal." Mordin continued. "Tell me… what is this goal?"

"We're hunting down the Collectors." Shepard explained. "They, however, are a secondary objective. I can share our primary objective with you if you agree to join us."

"No, no… mercenary conflict still raging… too many wounded, clinic understaffed." Mordin declared, still speaking at light speed. "Need conflict to end first."

Shepard sighed internally. "How long will it take for the mercs to finish each other off?"

"Unknown, conflict only just begun." Mordin explained. "All groups received reinforcements recently."

Shepard suppressed a groan. "What if we helped… suppress the mercs in this part of the station?"

"With less wounded coming in, clinic staff should be more than enough… will come with you."

"Alright…" Shepard began, typing away at her Datatool for a moment, opening a secure communication to _Normandy_. She connected with Lawson. "Lawson, I need you, Williams, and Alenko on-station for an operation here on Omega. Assemble a strike platoon of Marine Raiders, too. Rendezvous at my location as soon as possible."

"Of course, Shepard." Lawson replied, curtly, cutting the communication a moment later.

"Imperial Fleet, here?" Mordin asked, surprised.

"Just my ship." Shepard answered. "My fireteam and a platoon of UHE Marines will be here shortly."

"Fireteam…?" Mordin wondered aloud. "Strange, Imperial Navy does not allow officers to take part in ground engagements unless… N7?"

"You're certainly well-informed, Professor." Shepard observed, slightly taken aback by the Salarian's surprising knowledge of the Imperial Navy's regulations.

"Worked with STG during Second Contact War… very familiar with Humans." Mordin explained. "Your kind… fascinating."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Shepard's neutral expression was betrayed by a smirk.

"Excellent." Mordin returned with his own equivalent to a smirk.

 **Codex Updated:**

 **Synth (Addendum): The Synth body is as much a complicated machine as the organic Human body. Synth bodies are far more modifiable, due to the negated chance of cybernetic or biomod-induced shock. Synths blend organic adaptability with the durability of a machine.**

 **While some Synths choose to take on a more… organic existence, complete with functions that entirely mirror the Human body's own, others choose to embrace their machine nature and do away with pain receptors, the desire to eat and drink, and other organic qualities.**

 **Synths serving in the Imperial Armed Forces are given highly advanced "combat bodies", increasing their durability and resistance to environmental hazards. Their relatively unlimited endurance and dulled sense of pain make them invaluable as shock troopers and Force Recon operators.**

 **UHE Borders: The UHE Borders are some of the most highly-regulated and controlled, especially after the Sacking of Mindoir. Any non-Humans within UHE Space are required to have special permits and visas from the UHE Embassy on the Citadel, and strict quotas and limitations are put in place to limit the amount of alien traffic through Human Space.**

 **Some permits are more available than others. A simple travel permit, allowing aliens to make use of the Mass Relays that lie within Human Space are widely available, but trading permits are far more costly and highly-regulated.**

 **Immigration to the UHE is impossible for all species of the Milky Way with the exception of the Quarians. There is a motion on the Senate floor to allow small numbers of other Council species to settle in Human Space around the UHE-controlled Relays.**

 **A/N:**

 **That feel when you accidentally take a three month hiatus from writing a story. Sorry about that. I had intended for this chapter to come out far earlier, but my car decided to stop being a car and become a two-ton paperweight for no discernable reason, so I've been caught up in dealing with that.**

 **But yeah, moar Mass Effect now. Speaking of which, the new Andromeda Trailers that have been coming out have gotten me to hype levels that I haven't experienced since the Halo 3 "Believe" trailer. This game looks fucking snazzy. March can't come soon enough.**

 **Sidenote: I've got a Discord server set up, if anyone wants to join it and talk some shit, play some games, or just hang out. You can find the server link on my bio page here on FF, just remove any spaces and copy-paste it into the little "join server" thingy on Discord.**

 **I've already started playing War Thunder and Heroes and Generals with a few readers from one of my other stories, and I'd be down to play some vidya games with some more people. I'm primarily a PC gamer, but I do have an Xbone too.**

 **If you want to reach me a bit more reliably than the reviews of PMs here on FF, Discord would probably be the place to do it.**

 **As always,**

 **-TallYapflip**


	16. Chapter 16: The Day the World Broke Down

**Chapter 16: The Day That the World Broke Down**

Stratton walked the dim halls of the alien vessel, green light pulsating through fiber optic cables and across computer screens. The Imperial Guard aboard _Imperator_ had already cleared and secured the entirety of the ancient vessel, declaring it safe. Despite this, four Guardsmen still accompanied him. "Tell me about your world." Stratton spoke directly to the linked consciousness of the species.

The overlapping tones and inflections rang out through the halls of the vessel, carrying an ethereal weight with them. "Our world was ocean, deep and expansive." The Voice began, its tones lamenting and sullen. "Our kind was… one of the first to reach out from beneath the waves. We were the apex of life, the pinnacle of existence on our world. Even that was not enough to save ourselves or our home."

"Our time spent adrift has left us yearning for resources and information. We have encountered many races much like our own, just reaching out to the stars for themselves. None of them lived as you do, Human. You have transcended what was thought possible for a species to achieve."

"In a way, so have you." Stratton returned. "We've only recently begun doing what your entire species seems to have accomplished. It would be a shame to let you keep drifting, we both have quite a bit we could learn from one another."

"What do you mean, Human?" The Voice asked.

"Your kind fascinates me, and it's clear we fascinate you." Stratton answered. "Do you have any images of your anatomy?"

"Indeed." Stratton watched as a screen came to life, showing biometric data and the complete genome of this species. They were certainly aquatic in origin, but had a certain humanoid quality to them. They had the four appendages and single head, but their skin appeared much stronger and more resilient. Their eyes were similar in shape and size to a Human's, but the count of internal cones and rods was almost triple that of a Human eye. Their hearing was rather underdeveloped, but that was not unexpected for a species adapted to live in water. Strangely enough, they appeared to be amphibian in nature. They had both lungs and gills that worked together, allowing respiration beneath and above water.

"Your kind is rather similar to my own…" Stratton mused. He remained thoughtful for a moment, eventually speaking up once again when a certain world crossed his mind. "There is a world in our space, Sivus III, which is almost entirely ocean. With our synthetics technology, we would easily be able to re-create your bodies and allow you the life you used to live."

"Is this offer sincere?" The Voice asked.

"I'm rarely ever not sincere." Stratton answered, transferring the data regarding Sivus III to the ship's mainframe. "There are no worlds in this system suitable to Human colonization… there is one suited to your species, however. I simply require your knowledge on organic-to-digital consciousness."

"This is agreeable, Human." The Voice answered, sounding elated. "We accept."

"Excellent." Stratton smirked. He linked back up to _Imperator_ 's bridge. "Helm, bring us to the Sol System at full power."

"Right away, Chancellor." The navigator responded.

"We are not going to this Sivus System?" The Voice asked, confused.

"You need bodies to colonize a world." Stratton answered. "And Sol is where we can make that happen."

XXXXX

The streets of Omega's largest residential district were alive with the sounds of gunfire. Projectiles no larger than grains of sand flew through the filtered air alongside UHE Coilgun slugs as the mercenaries were beaten back.

Shepard and her team were at the front of the fight, switching to and from targets as the Turian, Salarian, Asari, Vorcha, and Krogan mercenaries were dispatched. Garrus had set up a killzone from his perch in a window, picking off unlucky targets with his rifle. Thane flayed the mercenaries around with Biotics, tossing them across streets and slamming them into walls. The Marine Raiders moved independently, coordinating with Shepard and her team to provide support with grenades and surgical strikes against heavy targets.

Shepard, as she slotted a round through the skull of a Salarian engineer that was working on setting up an auto-turret, quietly wondered why she didn't have the entire Marine detachment on _Normandy_ come to assist. They had been pushing these mercs back for the better part of four hours, moving from street to street as they cleared them out.

"Krogan's charging!" Kaidan called out, propelling himself out of the way of the mass of armor that had come barreling towards him. The Krogan had put himself into such an intense rage that he didn't quite register the impact of a concussive shot from Garrus, followed by a quick stab through the neck from Miranda's combat knife.

"Blood Pack leader sighted, Shepard." Garrus commented from his perch. "Firing."

Shepard followed the faint trail of Garrus' round, finding the target. The massive Krogan's barriers flared up upon impact, but remained up. "Focus fire, take him down!" Shepard shouted, ducking out of the way of an incoming Biotic Pull.

Eventually, they managed to whittle away at the Barrier enough to start attacking the Krogan directly. Thane reached out with a Biotic Pull, yanking the mass of armor and flesh towards the group. Garrus slammed a concussive blast into the Krogan's head, and the N7 Operatives peppered him with gunfire from every angle. The Marines kept their fire trained on the Vorcha that still infested the area. As a final slug finished off the Krogan, Thane tossed the limp corpse into a group of Vorcha that were closing in on the Marine position, knocking many of them clean off their feet.

Shepard stood up from behind the mass of rubble that she was using for cover as the remaining Vorcha were silenced by the fire from the Raiders. "Area clear, Shepard." Garrus came over the comms. "Last Merc leader eliminated."

"Finally…" Shepard muttered to herself, slotting a new magazine into her coilgun. "Alright team, regroup back at the clinic. We're getting off this godforsaken rock."

XXXXX

Shepard stepped back onto her ship, joined by her away team and Professor Solus. All of the eyes on the CIC Deck turned to look as the Salarian stepped on board. Mordin scanned over the deck with a scientific eye, fascinated by the Human technology all around him. "Impressive…" He commented. "Sleek design inside and out, open decks, minimal crew, maximum automation to ensure sustained operations. A stealth vessel?"

"Quite observant, Doctor." Shepard acknowledged as she walked towards the Galaxy Map.

"Strange…" Mordin commented, looking to the crewmen aboard. "Your vessel is quite… different than the ones I am familiar with, Commander… is it new?"

"Not quite." Shepard answered, waving off a salute from a passing deck officer. "This vessel saw combat in the Second Contact War."

"Contrasts quite heavily with normal Human doctrine…" Mordin commented. "Your kind not well known for stealth."

Shepard decided to ignore the small chuckle from her Turian crewmate. "We hid from you for a thousand years, didn't we?"

Mordin remained awfully silent for the first time since Shepard had met him. "Fair enough." She simply had to smirk at that.

"Commander!" Traynor called out, catching her attention. "Priority-1 message from Admiral Hackett."

"Marines, escort Professor Solus down to the Crew Deck." Shepard ordered.

"Aye, Ma'am!" Vega said, nodding for Mordin to follow him towards the elevator.

As the Marines, Thane, Mordin, and Garrus headed for the elevator, Shepard walked over to her terminal next to the Galaxy map, placing her helmet down on the metal surface as she turned to Traynor. "What do we have?" She asked.

"New orders, Commander." Traynor said, the picture of professionalism. "Hackett wants us to return to the Citadel. He's also forwarded a few more dossiers to us."

"Let's see them." Shepard said. At her word, Traynor pulled up four holographic images depicting the profiles of their next additions. One was a Krogan Battlemaster by the name of Urdnot Wrex, one was an Asari Justicar named Samara, and one was a very unorthodox addition, to say the very least. The third dossier showed the very scarce profile of a Geth platform called Legion. Apparently, it was one of the few Geth that was capable of verbal speech with organics and had developed something resembling a personality after the Quarians resettled Rannoch. The final dossier was a familiar face: Tali, the Quarian engineer and daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah. "Huh… A Geth and a Quarian on one ship…"

Traynor cracked a small smile. "Thankfully, Wrex and Tali are both on the Citadel, but Samara is on the Asari world of Illium, and Legion is on Rannoch."

Shepard nodded. "Joker!" She spoke over the bridge comms system. "Set a course for the Citadel, get us as far away from Omega as possible."

"Right away, Ma'am." Joker responded.

Shepard closed out of the communications suite on her Datatool, grabbing her helmet and placing it under the crook of her arm. Shepard gave Sam a quick wink as she headed for the elevator, earning a rosy blush on Sam's cheeks.

XXXXX

The _Normandy_ connected with its designated docking tube in Docking Port D24 on the Citadel's Zakera Ward. The short, four hour jump from Omega to the Widow Nebula having just concluded. After handing the helm over to the ship's navigator, Pressley, Shepard's team, along with much of the crew, disembarked the vessel and stepped onto the massive space station.

As Shepard and the first group of crewmen made their way out of the docking tube, they all reflexively snapped into a salute as they saw a uniformed Admiral of the Imperial Navy awaiting them. Shepard kept her professional stance, despite knowing the Admiral in question rather well. "At ease!" Admiral Anderson ordered, causing all of the naval crewmen and Marines to relax. "As you were."

As the lower-ranked crewmembers made their way through the security checkpoints to take advantage of their shore leave, Anderson made his way over to Shepard, a small smirk on his face. "Good to see you again, Commander."

"Good to see you too, Admiral." Shepard said, smiling. "Looking a little soft around the edges, there."

Anderson chuckled. "That's what happens when the Chancellor appoints you as the Ambassador to the Citadel."

"I heard about what happened at the Embassy yesterday." Shepard added, her voice falling in tone slightly.

"Yeah…" Anderson said, sighing. "Twenty dead in total, a lot more wounded. Threw the Council for a bit of a loop when the news footage of Imperial Guardsmen helping aliens was broadcasted. It's helped our image a bit, but we've got a long way to go before the galaxy trusts us enough to rally behind us."

Shepard nodded. "I just hope we have the time."

"So do I…" Anderson agreed.

"Assuming that what Javik told us is correct, we have at least two years before the Reapers get to a Relay."

"That's two years we have to prepare, without causing a mass panic at that." Anderson admitted, shrugging. "Looks like you've got your work cut out for you, Shepard."

"Believe me, I know." Shepard nodded. "But Hackett's given me the best crew our species has to offer… if anyone can do it, it's them."

Anderson managed a small smile, despite the morbid topic. "Speaking of your crew… your mother tells me you and your Comms Specialist have grown rather close?"

Shepard groaned, letting out a light laugh. "She told you?"

"She did…" Anderson smiled. "She really likes her, too. I'm happy for you, Shepard."

"I'm glad you approve." Shepard chuckled.

Anderson smirked, clasping a hand on his friend's shoulder. "The universe finds a way to bring people together, Annalise. I know your Father would be proud of what you've done. Hell, he'd be the first to tease you to Hell and back when he heard about you and Traynor."

Shepard gave a mournful smile. "I know…"

Anderson smiled, deciding to switch the conversation back towards the original point. "Well, the _Normandy_ should be ready for departure by tomorrow. Enjoy your shore leave while you can, Commander."

"Enjoy the politics, Anderson." Shepard shook her mentor's hand, earning a chuckle from the aging man.

"I'll do my best."

XXXXX

Lucassen's body shook as the LAV-25 IFV beneath him bounced over the battered asphalt. He heard the distant rumbling of Abrams treads as the tanks rolled alongside their lightly-armored IFV escort. The roaring engines of F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightnings tore through the air above the armored convoy. The Marine's heart was pounding in his chest as the cacophony of war sounded around him. "Marines!" Lieutenant McNamara called out over the roaring engines, earning the attention of his subordinates. "The Citadel Council has made their intentions absolutely clear… I know some of you are afraid, some of you want nothing more than to go home… believe me, I know. It's this, or we bend a knee."

"These aliens are here to conquer, not to liberate." McNamara continued, ducking his head slightly to avoid banging his helmet against the metal roof of the IFV as he stood to address his men. "These aliens have turned their backs on diplomacy, and have shown their ultimate goal: to see their flag fly over our own. As for us… I expect you to _rock_ their world! Wipe them out, they've made their choice."

"Ooh-Rah!" The Marines chanted, their symphony of the traditional Marines call momentarily drowning out the roaring engines.

"I expect you to be ferocious in battle, and magnanimous in victory! Our world is steeped in a long history of war. These freaks have no idea who they've just pissed off! They've come a long way from their Citadel, and have turned their backs on our upright, decent, and generous diplomacy. One day, their kind will be embarrassed by the hospitality we offered, even though we had nothing compared to them, other than the soil on which we tread!"

"It remains my foremost intention to bring every one of you out of this war alive! There will be those among us that will not see the end of this campaign to defend our species… we will put them in their sleeping bags and we will send them back home. There will be no time for sorrow, these aliens will _not_ allow it. We will grieve for our brothers and sisters later. The Enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and we are bringing about his rightful destruction! Now let's get these fucking freaks off our planet!"

"Ooh-Rah!" The Marines chanted again.

A moment later, the armored column ground to a halt, the heavy M2 MGs on the roofs rattling off .50 BMG at their targets. The rear door opened, revealing the edge of a shattered and broken city. The platoon of Marines stormed out of their armored vehicles, their M16 rifles clutched in their hands.

Lucassen, his platoon's corpsman, sprinted under a hail of gunfire, sliding into cover behind the front wheel of a burned-out sedan. Plumes of smoke rose from the shattered remains of Charleston, the skyline broken by the bones of skyscrapers. Over the sea of rubble and debris, he could make out the distant silhouette of the enemy. The Turians, Asari, and Salarians stood their ground in the center of the city, returning fire with their alien weapons.

The LAV-25 that Lucassen rode in on started unleashing hell with its 25mm cannon. Soldiers from all nations manned the counter-offensive. For the briefest moment in Human history, the species was united against a common foe. In a strange way, it was poetic.

Lucassen popped out of cover, firing a few rounds at a distant Asari with his rifle. He know how unlikely it was for his rifle to actually _kill_ one of the invaders, their shields made them far more resistant to gunfire than a Human soldier. The Marines were banking on their numerical and vehicle advantage.

He instinctively ducked as he heard the familiar crack of a Council slug buzz past his head. In return, one of the M1A2 Abrams tanks in the column fired a 120mm shell at the Council lines, the APFSDS shell splashing against the shielded, six-wheeled vehicle that was pouring fire down on the Marines. "Heads down!" McNamara called out over the thundering war around him.

From above, an F-22 crashed into a nearby building. The fighter's internal fuel tank went up, blasting the airframe apart and bringing an adjacent building down even further. Small chunks of concrete thumped against the ground, a heavy block narrowly missing Lucassen.

Amid the carnage of battle, Lucassen heard the faint, deep calling of his title. "Operative… Operative!" In an instant, his vision went black, the simulation shutting down. Blinking, his vision returned. He was greeted by the sight of his holographic AI companion, Voight-Kampff. "Operative, the Director wishes to speak with you."

Lucassen sighed, sitting up and pulling the wires from his neural implant. In reality, he was sitting aboard the simulation deck aboard the Atlas-Class Cruiser _Indomitable Will_ , which was currently docked with Terra-I, the largest orbital dock in the Sol system. Groaning as the real world around him shifted, he stood on his own two feet. "What about?"

"We are being called back to Earth for a meeting with The Director." Voight-Kampff answered with a smirk. "Did you enjoy your trip back in time?"

"No." Lucassen answered, grabbing the polymer cap to his neural implant and slotting it into one of the two open slots in the back of his head.

"Why do you keep coming back, then?" Voight-Kampff asked.

"Feels closer to home than this damn place." Lucassen muttered, grabbing his compact carbine from the retention rack on the wall and walking for the door.

XXXXX

Shepard stepped off of the elevator, simply amazed by the fact that despite the nature of Element Zero technology, their elevators were still _that_ damn slow. The small club tucked away in a small corner of Zakera Ward, Chora's Den, was nothing short of an alien dive. Shepard, one of the three Humans on this level, was clad in her uniform, handgun strapped to her hip. The two other Humans on this level, Ashley and Miranda, also wore their uniforms and weapons at their hips.

"Wrex is here?" Ashley asked, looking to the sleazy electronic sign above the pneumatic door.

"That's what C-SEC said." Shepard shrugged. "They've been keeping an eye on him, apparently he's caused some trouble in the past."

"Do you think he can be trusted?" Miranda asked, walking alongside Shepard as they made their way for the door.

"Hackett wouldn't have forwarded his dossier if he didn't think so." Shepard answered, pressing the activation button in the center of the door. The three panels of the door slid open, revealing the circular establishment. There was a central bar, surrounded on all sides by tables filled with patrons of all species, sans Humanity. Asari dancers decorated a circular platform above the bar, twirling around their floating stage and enrapturing the patrons.

The light droning of conversation stopped as the three Humans stepped into Chora's Den, all eyes in the room turning to them for a moment. After a few moments of the Human soldiers holding their ground, all eyes turned away from them, back to their drinks or to the Asari dancers.

It didn't take long for Shepard to spot Wrex. The behemoth of a Krogan was stood on the other end of the club, clad in heavy red armor with a shotgun slung across his back. With a few long strides, Shepard and her two squadmates covered the distance quickly. Wrex, leaned against a wall, obviously saw them coming, despite keeping his eyes glued to a small datapad. "What do you want, Humans? I have no quarrel with you."

"We're not here to cause trouble for you, Wrex." Shepard stopped a few feet from the Krogan, keeping her stance straight.

"Huh…" Wrex hummed, looking up from his datapad to look Shepard in the eye. "What do you want?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, Imperial Navy." Shepard answered. "I'm building a team, and your name's on the list."

"Humans? Working with aliens?" Wrex barked out a laugh. "I'll bite, what's this team for?"

"We're hunting down the Collectors." Shepard answered, earning a set of narrowed eyes from the Krogan.

"You mean you want to go through the Omega-4 Relay?" Wrex laughed. "That's suicide, no ship's ever returned from that."

"Human ships don't require the relays to travel " Shepard corrected.

"You think it's the relay that kills the ships?" Wrex asked, an incredulous look on his face. "The Omega-4 Relay doesn't connect to any relay in the galaxy, nobody's even sure where the exit point is. If no ship's ever returned, then it's either a paradise where it rains Ryncol and the streets are paved in gold, or everyone who's ever made it to its exit point is dead. I'm more inclined to believe the latter."

"So that's a no?" Shepard asked, crossing her arms.

"I never said that." Wrex answered, standing upright. "I'll go with you on this little trip, so long as you help me with my contract."

Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "What would that contract be?"

"One of the Shadow Broker's agents has gone rogue." Wrex explained, his tone low and hushed. "Name's Tela Vasir, a Spectre."

"You want me to help you kill a Spectre?" Shepard asked, eyebrow cocked. "Sounds like an Asari name, do you know where she is?"

"She was supposed to be on the Citadel, but the Council sent her to Illium."

Shepard smirked. "Well, you're in luck. Illium's our next stop."

"Alright, I'll come with you then." Wrex rolled his shoulders. "Always wanted to see what all of the fuss was about with you squishy little Humans."

XXXXX

Shepard smirked as she approached the _Normandy_ 's docking tube in Bay D24, spotting a familiar exosuit-clad Quarian waiting by the airlock. "Tali." Shepard approached the Quarian, smirk still present. "Good to see you again."

"You too, Shepard." Tali gave a nod. "I wasn't exactly expecting a call from your Chancellor, much less about joining you, but I'm glad I got the call."

"It'll be good to have a familiar face aboard the _Normandy_." Shepard smirked. "Or… helmet, I guess."

Tali chuckled, following behind Shepard as she tapped her Datatool against the airlock's scanner. "You might be seeing Quarians outside the suits soon, the Geth have been a great help with jumpstarting our immune systems." She gave a quick nod to Ashley and Miranda, both of them returning in kind.

As the airlock door slid open, a quick decontamination procedure vented sterilizing agent into the airlock, followed by the hissing of the secondary bulkhead's pneumatics. As the door slid open, EDI's voice came over the ship-wide intercom. "Commander Shepard is aboard, Flight Lieutenant Moreau stands relieved."

As Shepard, her away team, Wrex, and Tali stepped onto the deck, Shepard turned her head towards Wrex. "Head down to Deck 3, Agent Kai Leng has a few questions for you. Just a formality."

With a grunt of acknowledgement, Wrex strode off towards the elevator. Shepard nodded for Tali to follow her after turning to Ashley and Miranda. "You're all relieved, I'll show Tali to engineering." She turned her attention to Joker. "Joker, plot a course for Illium."

With a nod, Ashley and Miranda headed for the armory to stow their weapons away. "Right away, Shepard." Joker called out.

As Shepard led the way to the elevator, she pressed the button for Deck 4, the elevator quickly arriving from the crew deck. As she leaned against the railing, Tali turned to her. "Shepard… I heard you met a real, living Prothean. Is that true?"

"No, I met a fake, dead one." Shepard smiled, earning a light laugh from the Quarian.

Despite Humanity's xenophobic nature, the Empire had become a close ally and protector of the Quarians. Chancellor Stratton himself had referred to the Quarians as "kindred spirits" during a recent address that was given after the Imperial Navy helped to re-secure the old Quarian colonies from pirates that had set up there. Most Humans had come to empathize with the Quarians after their history had become public knowledge, and many groups in UHE Space had started up in recent months, helping to construct prefab structures for the resettlement of Rannoch.

"What was the Prothean like?" Tali asked, the elevator passing Deck 3.

"A bit of a prick, honestly." Shepard shrugged. "Kept going on about us being primitives." She let a small smile cross her face. "Shut up real quick when he saw _Imperator_."

As the elevator arrived in the Hanger, Shepard was greeted by a sight that she had come to expect. Garrus, James, and Cynthia were sat around the small makeshift table that was used for impromptu poker games, a rather animated conversation carrying over the noise of the filtration systems and humming of the Void Drive. "Please…" James waved a hand. "I dropped fifteen Batarians in hand-to-hand on Torfan. Used the fifteenth as a shield when his buddy drew a pistol on me."

"I'm just warming up, Vega." Garrus smirked, leaning his arms against the table. "A few years ago, just before your kind blitzed through the galaxy, I tracked down a Batarian spy ring that was trying to kidnap Executor Pallin. Shot on right through his head, right over the hostage's shoulder."

"I'll give you that, Scars… You've been through a lot." Vega admitted.

"So what, you giving up?" Garrus asked, smirking.

"Nah, I've got a few more… just don't like to talk about 'em."

"Fair enough… we've all got some of those." Garrus craned his neck over to Shepard and Tali, giving them a nod. "Welcome back, Shepard."

"Garrus?" Tali asked, surprising even Shepard.

"Wait… Tali?" Garrus asked, mandibles flaring out.

"You two know each other?" Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I helped her out when a few mercs were after her on the Citadel a few months back, nothing major." Garrus answered. "It's good to see you again, Tali."

"It's good to see you too, Garrus." Tali, unbeknownst to Shepard, was smiling.

"How'd you meet Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"She and her team were the ones that freed Kal'Reegar and I on Torfan." Tali answered.

"Really?" Garrus asked, looking to Shepard.

"Really." Tali answered. "One minute the Batarian Governor is shouting about something, next thing I know there's four Humans storming into his quarters, gunning down everything in their path. I was scared out of my mind… I thought they were Asari at first."

"Heh…" Garrus chuckled. "Anyway… it's good to see a familiar face, Tali."

"Speaking of which, Tali." Shepard interjected. "Chief Engineer Adams is over in the drive core." She shot a thumb over her shoulder, pointing to the door leading to the primary engineering room. "He can brief you on your position here on the ship."

"Thanks, Shepard." Tali nodded, heading towards Engineering.

"Oh, so the Quarian gets access to the ship's drive core but the Turian can't help calibrate the mass driver?" Garrus smirked. "I see how it is, it's a race thing."

"Hackett'd kill me if I let you tinker with the guns, Garrus." Shepard strolled over to the table, sitting down in one of the many fold-out chairs. "Either way, they're running at full capacity."

"Are you sure about that?" Garrus smirked. "Last I checked, you still had those new power converters sitting in their crates over there." He pointed to a collection of crates that were stacked up behind the Stryker.

Shepard rolled her eyes, a small smile betraying her exasperated expression. "I'll see what I can do."

"So, what about you, Commander?" Cynthia asked, thin wisps of smoke trailing from her nostrils.

"What?" Shepard asked, allowing herself to relax in the seat.

"Any ops that can top Garrus?" Cynthia clarified.

"Yeah, Shepard." Garrus goaded. "Think you can top busting a spy ring?"

"That's a battle you don't want to have, Scars." Vega smirked. "N7 cheat at this."

Shepard decided to humor the Spectre. "There was that one time I took the Turian Primarch prisoner right in front of the Council."

"Damn…" Garrus' eyes widened.

"See?" Vega laughed.

XXXXX

Jack Harper read through the new data that had come in from the strange technology that had been discovered in Batarian Space. He was absolutely sure of it now, this was Reaper tech. He casually swiped through the dozens of reports that had come in from the science team, describing the effects of this "indoctrination". He already had Cerberus working on counters for this, and it was proving more difficult than he had originally thought. Whatever it was, this effect was hard to pin down.

He glanced up as he heard the metallic door to his office slide open, pleasantly surprised to find that Lucassen was early. "Operative Lucassen, thank you for coming so quickly." He closed out of the reports on his terminal, sticking a cigarette in his mouth. "Please, sit."

"Of course, sir." Lucassen complied, sitting down in the metallic chair.

"My apologies for… being so secretive about the procedure that brought you back." Harper began. "It was more for the sake of your mental stability than anything."

"I appreciate that, sir." Lucassen nodded. He knew that it was his mind playing tricks on him, but he could _swear_ that he heard the light whirring of servos as his neck moved. "It won't interfere with my missions."

"Excellent…" Harper smiled, his synthetic eyes meeting Lucassen's own. "On that topic, your mission on Mars yielded some interesting new data." Harper swiped a hand across his terminal, bringing up a holographic projection of a strange-looking device. "The Protheans referred to it as the Crucible… it's a weapon capable of destruction on an unprecedented scale, unlike anything we've ever seen."

Lucassen examined the holographic projection. This object would be massive should it exist, easily as long as the Citadel. "Was it ever completed?" Lucassen asked.

"No…" Harper admitted. "By the time the Protheans had begun investing in its creation, it was already too late."

"Shouldn't be a problem for Imperial shipyards." Lucassen observed. The Empire regularly constructed orbital stations that were twice the size of the Crucible.

"The object itself would be a simple endeavor… it is missing a key component, however. Something called the 'Catalyst'." Harper took a drag from his cigarette, letting the thin smoke escape from his lungs with a quick breath. "This isn't why I called you here, however." Harper admitted, collapsing the display and removing the radiating blue light from the room. "I have a new assignment for you."

As Harper slid a datapad across his desk, Lucassen grabbed it and scanned over the text on the small screen. It showed a star chart, with a system within the Hourglass Nebula highlighted. Further down the document, an image of a planet was visible. It was a planet known as Hagalaz, its atmosphere in a constant state of flux. The oceans snap froze at sundown and boiled during the day.

As Lucassen read over the data, Harper launched into his explanation. "Deep Space scanners have detected a small anomaly on this planet. Occasionally, through the slight breaks in the perpetual storm that follows the sun, we've detected outgoing and highly encrypted communications. For the most part, it appears as junk data being pumped into Council comm buoys, but appearances can be deceiving."

"What do we think it is?" Lucassen asked.

"We believe it to be the center of operations for the Shadow Broker." Harper answered.

Lucassen hummed. He had some knowledge on the Shadow Broker, no more than anyone else in the galaxy. The Broker sold information to individuals, governments, and mercenaries. Many theorized that he was responsible for covering up the First Contact War for so long. "What's my mission, sir?" Lucassen asked.

"The Shadow Broker is a threat to Human interests, Operative." Harper answered. "Recently, we've had some leaks about _Dying Star_ … the leaks lead here."

"Smash-and-grab?" Lucassen asked.

"No…" Harper answered. "You'll be leading an N7 Fireteam to kill the Shadow Broker. I'm transferring the Normandy-Class _UHE Shroud_ to your temporary command."

 **Codex Updated:**

 **First Contact War: The war that saw Earth bombarded by the Citadel Council in the early 21** **st** **Century. The First Contact War claimed four billion human lives, and completely wiped out the planet's satellite grid. The nations of Earth held their ground for a time, but were eventually defeated as the Council made use of their complete orbital dominance. The scars of this war are still visible on the surface of Earth, as entire areas of the planet's surface remain pockmarked with impact craters to this day.**

 **Combat Simulators: One of the primary methods of training UHE Special Forces, Combat Sims provide full sensory feedback, while removing the chance of actual injury or death. Simulations for all scenarios exist within the UHE's extensive databases, and some are even released to the general public as entertainment, albeit on a smaller, more toned-down mode when compared to their military counterparts. The public release versions were originally used for propaganda prior to the Second Contact War.**

 **A/N:**

 **Finally, I managed to stop dragging my goddamn feet with this one. I hope you all enjoy this one.**

 **Sorry if I've been getting really shit with my update schedule. I've been re-playing the Mass Effect games in anticipation for Andromeda (Which is fucking dope, by the way. Even with the weird-ass facial animations. Seriously man, every game uses motion capture for facial animations nowadays. You'd think Bioware could afford to mo-cap with almost 5 years of development and all of that sweet, sweet EA money.)**

 **As always,**

 **-TallYapflip**


	17. Chapter 17: The Shadows

**Chapter 17: The Shadows**

"Suit up, prep for combat!" Lucassen called out, stepping into the hanger bay of the _Shroud_ , his heavier Marine Raiders Hardsuit feeling alien in comparison to his light tactical gear. His carbine had been reconfigured for CQC, the barrel measuring at a meager 13 inches.

"Copy." Commander Jacob Taylor barked out over the light thrumming of the Void Drive, stepping into his exoskeleton and working to attach the armored plates into their proper places on the frame.

"Any bets on who this Broker arsehole is?" Zaeed asked, sliding his wicked-looking serrated combat knife into its sheath on his chestplate. "My money's on Asari."

"I'll take you up on that." Kasumi smiled, strolling over and producing her twin machine pistols from the weapon rack by the elevator. "Fifty creds on Hanar."

"You think this goddamn thing is a big, stupid jellyfish?" Zaeed barked out a laugh. "I ain't ever heard a' those goddamn things being anything other than preachers."

"I'm with Zaeed." Oriana grabbed her AR-190 from the rack, attaching ten spare magazines to the retention clips on her armor. "A hundred on Asari."

"Ya' goddamn right, sweetheart." Zaeed chuckled. "Word is this Shadow Broker's been around for hundreds of years, only makes sense that it'd be one of those squid-head bastards."

"Can it, team." Jacob called out, pulling his helmet on over his head. "And you're all idiots, it's probably a Salarian."

Lucassen paid the banter no mind, simply grabbing a pair of disruptor grenades from a small metallic crate and locking them to his combat harness. "Voight-Kampff, link the comms." He asked into his communicator, taking care to ensure that his helmet's speakers were deactivated.

"Comms check." Lucassen said as he heard the soft pinging of a communicator linking to a local network.

"Helix Actual, comms are green." Jacob responded.

"Helix-2, hear you loud and clear, Operative." Lawson answered.

"Helix-3, ready." Kasumi responded.

"Helix-4, prepped and ready." Zaeed's gruff voice came over the comms.

"The light is green, let's move!" Lucassen ordered. "Helm, bring is down into Hagalaz's atmosphere."

"Copy, Operative Lucassen." The ship's pilot called out over the ship-wide PA system.

Lucassen felt the ship shudder beneath his feet as it made contact with the turbulent atmosphere of Hagalaz. After a few moments of waiting, the hangar bay door opened, the gale-force winds of the perpetual storm whistling past as the ship matched speeds with the Shadow Broker's vessel beneath it.

"Go, go, go!" Lucassen ordered, taking the lead as he leapt out of the _Shroud_ , activating the thruster pack that was built into the rear of his armor. His boots met the metal hull beneath him with a heavy clang, followed by a quick click as the magnetic seals locked with the ship's outer hull.

The four other sets of boots met the hull a few feet behind him. Lucassen gave a quick motion with his hand, ordering the N7 team to advance with him. There was a strange, violent beauty in the perpetual storm that the ship followed. Lightning struck the focusing rods that jutted out from the hull of the vessel, which focused the raw energy and converted it into fuel for the vessel's constant motion.

"I bet the Broker's men love patrolling the hull…" Kasumi commented, making the mistake of looking over the side of the hull, down into the seemingly endless void beneath.

"Not even a goddamn guard rail." Zaeed agreed, walking near the center of the pack.

Lucassen held up a closed fist, the entire N7 fireteam halting behind him. "Maintenance drones ahead." Lucassen brought his rifle to bear, looking down the smart-linked scope. He painted four targets for the N7 to engage, then settled his crosshairs on the fifth target. "Engage." He ordered.

All five coilguns barked out in unison, the sound of the hypersonic slugs drowned out by the whistling winds. All five of the strange holographic drones crackled and fizzled as the slugs impacted, eventually fading out.

As a dozen more began appearing from behind them, Lucassen flipped his rifle into automatic fire, firing controlled bursts as the drones began converging on his team. "Move up, get off the bridge!" Lucassen ordered, moving as he fired.

XXXXX

"Get that goddamn door open, Goto!" Zaeed shouted, switching to his pistol as the magazine in his rifle ran dry. He popped out of cover to pepper the kinetic barriers of a Salarian.

"I'm _trying_!" Kasumi shouted, wildly looking between the door's console and her Datatool as she worked to bypass the security measures. Despite the limited capabilities of Council-grade computer systems, this one was proving to be quite the hassle.

Lucassen winced as an incineration package slammed into the metallic wall that he was using for cover. He popped out of cover, slotting a round through the head of the Asari that had sent the tech package his way, the slug passing cleanly through her chest armor and sending her to the floor.

"Man, gravity's one mean son of a bitch, ain't it?" Zaeed shouted, watching a Turian that Jacob had unleashed a biotic pull on get swept away in the winds.

"Got it!" Kasumi shouted, seeing the door's console light up in green.

"Move inside!" Lucassen shouted, tossing a stun grenade over his cover before standing up and backpedaling towards the door.

XXXXX

"Powering down Void Drive." Joker said, hands dancing across the interface at the helm of the _Normandy_.

Shepard watched as the distant singularity faded from view, replaced with the image of Rannoch. The remnants of the Quarian Heavy Fleet orbited around the planet, joined by a few UHE Heavy Cruisers and Frigates. Scattered among the formation was the entirety of the Geth armada.

The surface of Rannoch was speckled with a few points of glowing light, indicating civilization had returned to the planet. The Geth had assisted the Quarians with building settlements on their homeworld, and had even begun integrating themselves into Quarian enviro-suits to speed up the reacclimation to planetary life. Shepard allowed herself a small smile as she saw the two retrofitted Turian dreadnoughts spearheading the Heavy Fleet's defensive formation, the Turian markings replaced with Quarian ones.

"Commander, receiving comms from Rannoch. Patching them in." Traynor's voice came over the intercom.

" _UHE Normandy_ , this is Rannoch Fleet Command." The slightly synthesized voice of the Quarian on the other end of the comms came over the tightbeam system. "You are cleared to dock at Cooperation Spaceport on the surface. Welcome to Rannoch."

"Copy that, Rannoch Fleet Command, we are beginning our descent." Joker answered, closing the comms a moment later.

XXXXX

Stratton stepped into the Council's personal hanger bay, perplexed. He was unsure of why the Council had asked him to come to the Citadel, they had only mentioned that "this was something that he should see in-person."

He casually followed behind the Asari greeter that met him every time he made a trip to the Citadel. Strangely enough, he wasn't led into the Council Chambers. He was led into the Citadel Archives. The vast amount of hermetically-sealed cylinders containing artifacts that were thousands of years old, all neatly arrayed in retention slots on the wall. Some holographic images flickered, showing footage of important events throughout galactic history. As the Chancellor was led into an observation room, he was struck completely still by the sight before him.

The three Councilors stood around a large table, looking up to him as he stepped in. They all looked to him in confusion as he stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging open as he eyed the large object resting in the middle of the room. The ancient-looking spacefaring probe, adorned with a transmitter dish connected to a shallow cylindrical base, was immediately recognized by the Chancellor. "Chancellor Stratton?" Tevos asked, seeing the almost entranced state that he was in. "Is something wrong?"

Wordlessly, Stratton strode over to the ancient probe, kneeling down next to it. Spotting that old golden record, sitting proudly on the metallic casing of the probe. He reached out to touch the golden plating, his hand stopping a few inches short of its surface. "Where did you find this?" Stratton asked, turning his head to the Councilors.

"We detected it just outside Turian space, drifting through the empty space beyond Haliat's star system." Tevos answered. "We… believed it to be significant to you."

"You're goddamn right it's significant…" Stratton muttered, fiddling with his Datatool for a moment. His device took a detailed scan of its surface, translating the data carried on the record into a format that the Datatool could recognize. He stood up, walking over to the table, unhooking his digital tool and tossing it onto the table. "You've found Voyager-1…"

"What is it?" Sparatus asked, looking to the crude construct, confused by the Chancellor's reaction to it.

"A scientific probe that we… repurposed." Stratton answered. "We knew that there was… at least a small chance that sometime in the remote future one of the Voyagers would be intercepted and examined." He let out a small chuckle, looking back to that simple Golden Record. "We thought it would be impolite not to say 'hello'."

"We thought that those hypothetical aliens would… look at this message in wonder." Stratton continued, his voice wavering slightly. "We wondered if the Aliens would think that we destroyed ourselves, or if we had gone on to greater things." Silently, he tapped the 'Play' button on his Datatool, receiving a series of coded beeps and pauses in return.

"What is that?" Tevos asked, listening intently.

"Morse Code…" Stratton answered. " _Per Aspera, ad Astra._ " Stratton's voice broke just for the slightest moment, a bit of humility and Humanity peeking through that hardened, political exterior. "Through Adversity, to the Stars." He translated.

Tevos' expression, the only one that Stratton could understand fully, softened as she heard the translation. The weight and meaning of that message suddenly hitting her. _This_ was the species that the Council of a millennia ago had destroyed. A moment later, the Datatool on the table projected a message, written in plain English. Once again, Stratton translated it. "This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours."

Stratton's hand covered his mouth, clenching down as he saw digitally-interpreted analog images of Humans going about their daily lives in the late-20th Century. The sounds of Earth, long forgotten and lost, played from the device. The droning, deep calls of whales, the cries of a child, and the pleasant calls of birds. A vast majority of the creatures represented on this record had been killed off, and the cradle of Humanity was left lacking the sounds that gave it life. Of the few creatures that had managed to survive, the only ones represented here were the birds and the child.

Tevos watched as Stratton listened to the Record. The expression on his face was likely lost on Sparatus and Valern, but she knew. The Chancellor's eyes were a mix of sorrow, longing, and just pure sadness. As he listened to more and more of the Sounds of Earth, the music that was carried with it, and the messages from long-dead Humans, his eyes grew heavy with unshed tears. He kept his composure, but Tevos could see his emotions threatening to break through the barrier.

For the first time since he arrived, she saw the Chancellor smile. It wasn't a predatory smile like she was used to seeing from him, it was a genuine one. He listened to the upbeat, quick music of Chuck Berry, letting his history overtake him. "I hope you don't intend to keep this…" Stratton managed.

"No… this is for your species to have." Tevos shook her head. "It's your history, the history that our predecessors wrongly cut off." Try as she might, she couldn't help but feel sorrow for the Chancellor. He was stood around the aliens that had demolished this version of Humanity, listening to their hopeful message to the stars.

"Good…" Stratton managed, composing himself. "I might've killed you for this." He chuckled, casting a look over to Voyager-1.

"I'm sure your people will be happy to see this in a museum on Earth, Chancellor." Valern offered.

"No… this doesn't belong in a museum." Stratton smiled as a thought struck him. "Voyager's home is the stars."

"You're sending it back out?" Tevos asked, confused.

"The Universe is like a… time machine, in a way." Stratton began, looking at the ancient probe. "You see things as they were, not as they are. It would be best if Voyager was sent out among the stars, bearing its original message."

"You don't wish to alter it? Modernize it?" Sparatus asked. Even he could understand the significance of this. Truthfully, it shattered his preconceptions about Humanity. Despite their strength, despite their current nature, they were just as lost as anyone else in the Universe.

"No…" Stratton half-whispered. "That would be a disservice to the people that sent it on its way all those years ago. This Voyager, untouched by the remote events here, bearing the memories of a world… and a species that are no more, will fly on."

XXXXX

"Contact right!" Zaeed declared, a round pinging off the wall next to him. He blindly aimed his sidearm down the hallway, firing a few rounds downrage, satisfied when he heard the cries of pain from one of the Broker's agents.

"Grenade out!" Oriana tossed a small impact fragmentation grenade just beside a pair of Vanguards, the shockwave from the explosive pulverizing their insides and sending them into the nearby wall.

"Check your fire, Goto's moving up!" Lucassen ordered, sliding into cover beside Jacob. A few moments later, the cries of the Broker's agents could be heard, along with the snapping of necks, blades slipping beneath the seams of helmets, and suppressed gunshots.

"All clear!" Kasumi happily shouted, wiping the purple Turian blood off of her combat knife before sliding it back into the sheath on her chest.

"Get to work on that door." Lucassen stood, swapping out his spent magazine for a fresh one. The Broker's men were hell-bent on keeping them away from this particular door. They had even sent heavy troopers with missile launchers in a desperate attempt to stop them.

"On it." Kasumi nodded, activating her Datatool and setting to work.

"Orders for when we find the Broker, Lucassen?" Jacob asked, sliding an empty magazine that he had discarded back into his carrier rig.

"Engage with extreme prejudice." Lucassen responded, walking over the lifeless corpses of Asari, Salarians and Turians as he made his way over to Kasumi.

"Teach this bastard not to fuck with the Empire…" Zaeed mused with a smile, concealed behind his helmet. "I like it."

"Encryption's heavy, Lucassen." Kasumi explained, grinding her teeth as the console locked her out.

"Forget the bypass, set exothermic charges." Lucassen ordered.

"Copy." Zaeed nodded, stepping forward and pulling a set of four discs from his armor's carrier rig. He placed them at each corner of the door, the shaped charges adhering to the metal with a magnetic "click".

As Zaeed remotely activated the charges from his HUD, they began hissing and popping as the thermite within began eating away at the metallic door. "Might want to step back, sweetheart." Zaeed nodded to Kasumi, taking a few steps back. "A bit of a… special mixture in these." As everyone stepped back, they eyed the door with their weapons primed. "Detonation in three… two… and… one!" Zaeed declared, internally grinning as the shaped charges finished their detonation cycle. Superheated spalling was sent through the doors, spraying the room on the other side with metal fragments.

The four N7 and their Imperial Intelligence Agent stormed through the hole, stepping over the smoldering wreck that used to serve as the door. What they found themselves locking eyes with nearly made them stop in their tracks, but their training pushed the thoughts away.

A gargantuan bipedal creature stood up from behind its desk, picking a particularly sharp piece of spalling out from its shoulder. Its tri-point mouth lined with sharpened teeth twisted in pain as it yanked, its multiple eyes glaring down at the Humans before it. "I must say…" It began, its voice gravely and rough as it spoke. "You travel with fascinating companions, Synthetic. I appreciate you bringing the N7 team with you… a particular Batarian has quite the bounty out for N7. Not to mention the bounty on _your_ head."

Lucassen had some rudimentary knowledge of the creature before him. It was a Yahg, a species quarantined to its homeworld after massacring the Council's First Contact Party. He easily stood at twice the height of Oriana, the tallest Human in his group. " _Fire_." Lucassen ordered into his private comms channel with the N7 Fireteam.

In an instant, the four N7 bolted into action. Zaeed tossed a pair of adhesive incendiary grenades at the towering Yahg, one flying too low and connecting with the metal desk before it, and the other finding a home on its chest. The towering creature grunted as the thermite began burning its way through its armored carapace. Simultaneously, Kasumi had vanished and Oriana engaged the maneuvering thrusters built into her armor, propelling herself backwards towards a pillar that she took cover behind, firing a stream of coilgun slugs at the Yahg all the while. Jacob unleashed a Warp Field on the creature, striking it center mass.

Lucassen's vision was overtaken by his neural implant's tactical module, showing the armored skin of the Yahg, as well as the kinetic barrier surrounding its form. Just as the Shadow Broker began charging at him, he raised his sidearm, a thin beam of ionized plasma spearing forward from its barrel. The intense heat of his X-03's plasma quickly tore through the already weakened kinetic barriers, spearing into the creature's left thigh and cauterizing a neat hole clean through.

The Shadow Broker stopped dead in his tracks, falling to one knee as the muscles in his left leg gave out. He activated a shield mounted on his right gauntlet, the orange glow of Omni-Tool fabricated material casting a faint light before him. It was too little, too late however. From behind, Kasumi leapt up, burying her combat knife into the weaker carapace on his neck. The creature howled in pain as Kasumi tore the knife towards the top of his skull. Kasumi struggled for a moment as the Broker attempted to throw her off, but she succeeded in burying a fragmentation grenade in the exposed muscle, activating it before she jumped off.

Just as the Broker attempted to stand again, the grenade detonated. The explosion alone shattered his spinal column, liquefying his insides. The shrapnel speared through the soft internal tissue, killing him instantly. His body fell limp, blood pooling and oozing from the gaping maw in the back of his neck. "Good work, Goto." Lucassen praised, tucking his handgun back onto its magnetic retention strip.

"Nice pistol, Agent." Zaeed noted, gesturing towards the blocky construct on his hip. "I'll 'ave to get me one of those when they leave experimental phase."

"Give it a few months, and they'll roll them out to the N7." Lucassen shrugged, grabbing a micro-QEC system from his combat harness and connecting with Earth. He tossed the small disc-like object onto the Broker's desk, and a holographic image of the Illusive Man appeared on the far side of the desk, flickering slightly as a smirk overtook his normally neutral face. "Director, primary objective complete." Lucassen stated.

"Excellent work, Agent." Harper praised, flicking ash from his cigarette away. "Are the Broker's systems intact?"

"Lawson." Lucassen stated, Oriana quickly jogging over to the wall of communications displays behind the Broker's desk.

"All systems functional, Director." Oriana stated, scanning over the diagnostics data flooding one of the lower displays.

"Activate the general communication." Harper ordered.

"Aye, sir." Oriana nodded, pressing a few keys on the holographic display and stepping aside.

Harper's hologram turned to face the wall of displays, his arms clasped behind his back. "This is the Shadow Broker…" He began. Lucassen couldn't tell for certain, but he had a good feeling that the N7 in the room were stunned as he spoke. "Minor power fluctuations have corrupted data in our systems. I want updates within the next solar day. Resume standard procedures. Shadow Broker, out."

XXXXX

Tevos walked through the ornate halls of the Imperial Legislature on Earth. She had been to the Human homeworld on one occasion before, but the sheer size of the architecture never ceased to amaze her. The towering monoliths on Earth's surface seemed to, and sometimes did in the case of the Imperium Tether, stretch to the stars.

Truth be told, she had no idea why Chancellor Stratton had invited her to Imperium. It was unlike him to invite Councilors to Earth for any reason, so she had a sinking feeling that this was a matter of _grave_ importance. She had indeed come to view him differently after listening to the contents of the Voyager Probe, but this completely shattered her perception of him. Stranger yet, she was being escorted to a part of the Legislature that she had only ever heard about: The Pinnacle.

She only knew it to be the Chancellor's permanent residence on Earth, and it was positively shrouded in secrecy. As she understood it, only the elite of the elite among Human society had ever seen it in person. From what she had heard, only the Chancellor's immediate family and the Vice-Chancellor ever regularly entered. It was rare for even close friends to see it. The gravity of this soon hit her, as her escort of Imperial Guardsmen dressed in their ornate and immaculately-pressed grey-gold uniforms was replaced by a pair of Imperial Intelligence Agents, clad in the black and white angular formalwear that was common among Humans. What was uncommon was the fact that they seemed to lack weapons, which was strange in the Human Capital. It seemed that everyone on this planet was armed in some way, but these two men seemed completely unarmed. Deep down, she knew that either of them could kill her before she even had a chance to process what she had done wrong.

As she disembarked the elevator with the two Intelligence Agents, one of them reached a hand out as he kept his stride in sync with her own. "Omni-Tool." He asked.

She had been through a similar procedure when she had first entered the conference room with the Chancellor all those years ago. Back when the biggest concern on the Council's agenda was the possible renewal of hostilities. She disconnected the computer from her wrist, handing it over to the Agent, who tucked it away in a coat pocket. The other Agent ran a scanner over her, searching for concealed weapons. She knew that it was just procedure at this point, as she had already stepped through three scanners on her way into the Legislature. "You may proceed." The Agent wielding the scanner said, closing down the scanner program on his Datatool. "The Chancellor is waiting for you."

"Thank you." Tevos nodded, making her way down the long hallway towards the metallic door on the far side. This level of the building, at the very top, seemed to be dedicated to the Chancellor's home. There were only two doors on this level, one being the elevator that she had stepped out of a few moments prior.

The walls were adorned with rather stunning portraits, a golden plaque beneath each of them. She resisted the urge to stop and examine them, but she did recognize a few of the faces depicted in the paintings. Each of the paintings were portraits of Chancellors from throughout UHE History. About halfway down the hall, she noted that the portraits seemed to stop, but there was a golden plaque devoid of a portrait above. From the corner of her eye, she saw that it read out "Haddock Stratton: 2992 - …"

As she stepped through the door to the Chancellor's home, she was greeted by a surprisingly rustic atmosphere. Instead of the metallic or marble floors that she was used to, she found herself stepping onto a hardwood floor. Paper books lined shelves on the walls, and across the room, the skyline of Imperium flickered and danced in the distance, shrouded in the twilight. Paintings of Terran landscapes decorated the otherwise benign walls, and the décor was surprisingly mild. She was so surprised by the nature of Stratton's home that she very nearly missed the man in question step into the room, clad in a surprisingly informal set of clothes. "Councilor…" Stratton nodded in her direction, drawing her gaze away from the skyline and to him. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course, Chancellor." Tevos nodded, feeling woefully out of place and lost amidst the Human history surrounding her.

"I'd have come to the Citadel, but I'm stuck on Earth for the time being." Stratton shrugged, strolling over to a wooden cabinet and rummaging around inside for a moment. He produced an opaque glass bottle. "Busy month, christening ships and keeping the Legislature in check." He pulled a pair of glasses from the cabinet, looking to her. "Would you like a drink?"

"If it's not too much trouble." Tevos gave a polite smile. "Your world never ceases to amaze, Chancellor. So much history in this building alone."

"Thanks to you keeping Sparatus away from Voyager, we've been able to add a copy of the Golden Record to that history." Stratton smirked, walking over and handing her the glass of wine. "Please, have a seat. Make yourself at home." He said, gesturing to the two couches that faced one another, divided by a low coffee table.

"Thank you." Tevos nodded, taking a seat on the closer of the two couches.

Stratton made his way over to the furthest couch, sitting down and sighing. "I'm sure you're probably wondering why I asked you to come here in specific, and not the entire Council."

"The question had crossed my mind." Tevos nodded. She was surprised, the Human wine was amazing, possibly even better than Thessia's own.

"Because the Asari are the only Council race that I trust." Stratton deadpanned. "We're facing the greatest threat to galactic civilization, and the Turians and Salarians seem hell-bent on focusing their fleets on us. Yet the Asari… you've begun defending your border with the galactic rim."

"Truth be told, Sparatus and Valern are still unconvinced that the Reapers are an immediate threat." Tevos admitted. "Even after that talk with the Prothean, they think it will be centuries yet before the Reapers are upon us."

"As short-sighted as ever." Stratton sighed. "I assume that they need concrete proof before they get it through their thick skulls that this threat will be here soon?"

"Sparatus and Valern both agreed that Commander Shepard's report on the Collectors would provide the proof they needed, and they'd wait for that proof before committing their forces to a cooperative defense with Humanity."

"Or a cooperative strike against us, if the buildup of Turian and Salarian fleet assets on our borders speak of their intentions." Stratton chuckled darkly. "Tell me… how much do they know about our fleet compositions? I can't say I'm expecting honesty, but a man can try, can't he?"

Tevos chuckled. "You've been surprisingly transparent with us recently, so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. The Council believes the UHE Fleets to have doubled in size since the end of the Second Contact War."

"Huh… looks like the Broker couldn't leak everything." Stratton smirked. Tevos felt like a rock had just dropped in her stomach. She had seen all of what the Broker had transmitted across the galaxy, talking of a new Human warship with unimaginable capabilities. The leak had suggested a doubling in fleet sizes, and the thought that the Broker was wrong terrified her. "The UHE Navy has _far_ exceeded our pre-war strength. And the new vessel you've undoubtedly heard about is nearing completion."

"I had the feeling that our intelligence was wrong…" Tevos mused, sighing. "Seeing two of your… what do you call them? _Retribution_ -class Dreadnoughts sitting in shipyards on my flight in."

"We've re-classified the _Retribution_ -class to the _Titan_ -class, but yes." Stratton affirmed. "Two more are under construction… here. Europa is building four more."

Tevos couldn't believe it. Three _Titan_ -classes essentially made Sol untouchable to the Council, but the concept of _nine_ was simply absurd to her. It was clear that Stratton was taking the threat of the Reapers far more seriously than anyone else in the galaxy. "I'm surprised that you're so… open with what you're building. This is new."

"I have no desire for conflict with the Council, not when the enemy is at our gates." Stratton returned, taking a sip of wine. "Like it or not, Humanity is the one hope you have of defeating the Reapers. Even we alone cannot destroy them, however. It _will_ take a combined effort if Javik's estimates on Reaper numbers are even remotely correct. That's why I've asked you here… it's something that I can't trust the remainder of the Council with. I want to establish a cooperative defense with the Asari Republics against the Reapers."

Tevos was surprised, to say the very least. The last thing she expected was for the Chancellor to suggest that the Asari and Humans work together on a military matter. "To what degree?" Tevos asked.

"A… military exchange, if you will." Stratton had to think of proper phrasing. "Not in technology, but in soldiers. Joint training exercises, war games simulations, et cetera." Stratton leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "And _when_ the Reapers arrive… you have my word that the Empire will assist in the defense of Thessia. I simply ask that you extend the same courtesy in the event that Human worlds are struck. I have a feeling that we will be the Reapers' first target."

"What makes you say that?" Tevos asked.

"The presence of the 'Sovereign', as we've dubbed the Reaper we destroyed over Eden Prime, suggests that the Reapers have been monitoring the galaxy for some time." Stratton explained. "I think I finally have the answer as to why the technology of the Council seems to have hit a dead end."

"That being?"

"We've run in-depth analyses on not only Sovereign's remains, but technology we've uncovered from our war with the Hegemony." Stratton explained, typing away at his Datatool for a moment, a holographic image of the artifact discovered in the Alpha Relay's system appearing. "This object was discovered on an asteroid orbiting around a Batarian star. The alloy making up its surface is a perfect match to the metals that make up Sovereign. Stranger yet… this same alloy is what makes up the Mass Relays."

"That would mean…" Tevos trailed off, the implications suddenly slamming into her.

"That Javik's assessment was correct. The Protheans inherited the infrastructure of the Milky Way, just as you have, and this infrastructure is the product of the Reapers." Stratton locked eyes with her. "Every race in the galaxy, sans Humanity, has developed almost identical technology completely independent of one another. Mathematically, that would be impossible without outside interference. The Council should know very well what a species that manages to break this mold has the capability to _far_ exceed what is possible with Element Zero-based engineering. The Reapers likely know this as well, and they would be the most inept enemy in Human history if they did not strike at us first. What I'm trying to say is that every species in the galaxy has had their technological progression meticulously crafted by the Reapers. This allows them to know their enemy beforehand… we broke that endless cycle of technological progression, making us their only _true_ threat."

"Goddess…" Tevos muttered, mulling over the data on the holographic projection. "I think you're right."

"Now you see why we've been expanding our fleets." Stratton explained. "The Council has no hope of fighting back an enemy like the Reapers without the assistance of the Empire, and the Empire can't hope to best them alone. _You_ are the one member of the Council that I've come to consider an ally. I hope you take my offer into consideration, but I understand if the Matriarchs in he Republic shut it down."

"Believe me… I'll convince them." Tevos' voice hardened. She wouldn't let the stubborn pride of the Matriarchs damn her race to stand alone against an enemy like this.

"Excellent." Stratton smiled. "Then a toast, to an Asari-Human alliance." Stratton raised his glass. "To victory."

"To victory." Tevos mirrored, lightly clinking her glass against Stratton's own. Thankfully, she had at least picked up on that Human custom, strange as it may be to knock glasses together to celebrate things.

"I'll have one of our Admirals accompany you back to Thessia." Stratton added, knocking back the remainder of his wine. "Having a second voice should help to convince them."

"A good idea." Tevos nodded.

"It's time for Humanity to finally come out of its shell." Stratton sighed, casting a longing glance over his shoulder to the bright lights dancing across the Imperium skyline. "I'm done with the idea of being the enigmatic empire on the fringes of the galaxy…"

"I'm… surprised to see you like this, Chancellor." Tevos mused, catching Stratton's attention. "You're far from the ruthless politician that Sparatus and Valern believe you to be."

"I wouldn't go that far." Stratton chuckled. "I am that hard-ass they know me as."

"Unless you see an ancient probe." Tevos smirked.

Stratton gave a genuine smile, not one of those forced political smiles. "A lot of that history was lost…" Stratton's smile was almost contagious. "Having our satellite grid and wireless communication almost completely eradicated caused us to forget a lot of the old art and music that we created. It was good to hear it… even if it's just a small slice of what we made." He sighed, glancing over to the only non-landscape painting in the room: an oil painting of an old solid-fuel rocket, blasting off towards the stars. "It's amazing how far our nomadic species has wandered… Finding all of those secrets, silently orbiting distant stars, waiting for us."

XXXXX

White... blinding, ethereal white. Forever blinked a few times, hoping to clear it from view, but to no avail. The color remained, overpowering his vision. His ears rang with a high-pitched whine, silenced by a click. He was suspended in a liquid, contained in a tube of sorts. The memories came rushing back. He was _alive_ again. He was _breathing._ No more was he a piece of a consciousness. He was Forever Among the Stars again, given life once more. "Can you understand me?" A disembodied voice asked, slightly distorted by the liquid filling his ears. Knowing full-well that the Human that was speaking to him was unable to hear him, he settled on nodding, just as instructed before he would be implanted into his new self.

"Good. We're bringing your optical systems online." The voice answered, the faint tapping and haptic feedback of a projected keyboard filling his ears. In an instant, his vision flickered to the world around him. The transparent pod he occupied was facing many more just like it, and a Human male in one of their Naval Officer uniforms stood over a console, turning to him a moment later. "Blink once for every finger you see." The Officer beckoned, holding up his hand, all of the fingers extended. Forever was amazed... he could _see_. He blinked five times, and that seemed to satisfy the Human. "Move your limbs, flex your fingers." He asked, and Forever obeyed. "Excellent. Draining the pod now, wait one."

Forever felt the pressure within the tank begin to fade, and the fluid level began lowered. Eventually, he fell to the bottom of the pod, his bare, webbed feet connecting with the cold, damp metal with a soft _clang_. "I thank you, Human." Forever said, testing his voice. He was surprised to find that it was indeed his own, not some arbitrary fabrication. "You have given my people life once again."

"Thank me once we've finished all of the motor function tests." The Officer answered with a smile, tapping the screen before him, causing the pod to open to the clinically sterile air of the bay it was housed in. He stepped over to the pod, pulling a small flashlight from his breast pocket. "Follow the light, I need to check your optical response time."

 **Codex Updated:n**

 **X-03 Directed Plasma Weapon- The Experimental Mk.3 Directed Plasma Weapon is a sidearm designed in a similar manner to the micro-plasma lance that is mounted on Imperial Strike Fighters, but on a far less-powerful scale. Only capable of sustained fire for a combined total of three seconds at any given time before requiring a new Hydrogen cell to be loaded into the weapon, and burning at 32,000 Kelvin.**

 **A/N:**

 **Another chapter done, finally. You get a little bit of a sneak peek into the creation of Synthetics in the Empire. I think I'll expand on it next chapter ;).**

 **As always, I love all of the reviews, favs, and follows. I seriously can't believe that this story has broken 1200 follows, and almost 1,000 favs, and I'm not even a quarter of the way done yet! You guys are awesome.**

 **For the Glory of Mankind,**

 **-TallYapflip**

 **Review Responses:**

 **CReaper210: I hope this chapter gave you a bit more insight into the Chancellor. Trust me, you'll be seeing quite a bit more of him in the near future.**

 **Mike: I didn't even know that Andromeda's budget was _that_ goddamn low! Now that I know that they basically handed Bioware a shoestring budget to make a Triple-A RPG game, I'm actually thoroughly impressed by the game and how much they managed to accomplish with so little money.**

 **Western-Otaku: All of the UHE's tech had been tested in combat _long_ before encountering the Council. Just like the Council, the Empire had issues with piracy and small-scale rebellions on their far colonies, giving them a good testing ground for their new weaponry. Ships were tested in a bit of a different manner, though. For the most part, Starship weapons were tested against asteroids to gauge their destructive capabilities, and shields were tested by firing on an unmanned, outdated spacecraft. As for training, all of the Empire's soldiers are trained in simulations kinda like the Anchorage Sim from the Fallout universe, or the War Games from Halo. Occasionally, they train in live-fire exercises with modified variants of their weapons.**

 **Guest: I appreciate the praise on my writing style, and I freely admit that I need to work on writing combat. For some reason, I have the idea in my head that combat writing needs to be frantic and jumpy to actually mirror the nature of combat in real life, and I've been trying to get over that. As for the whole "abandoning" thing, I don't really have any desire to stop writing for this. Humanity is far from god-like in this setting, the Reapers in-canon would still be a _massive_ threat to them, based solely on their numbers. The Humans have a few thousand ships, while the Reapers have tens of thousands of Dreadnought-weight (By Council Standards) sentient starships, and convert their fallen enemies to allies. The roles between the Reapers and their enemies have essentially been reversed here. The Humans have powerful vessels, but they can still be destroyed if they're outnumbered.**

 **SergeantLawson: You'll see _Dying Star_ soon. I'll drop a hint here: Unification of the Great and Small.**

 **RevilledPembroke: Uncanny valley certainly seems like an apt description for Andromeda.**

 **CommissarCritical: I definitely get what you're saying with Sam and Shepard. I've been mulling over some ideas to make it better, here's hoping they work out.**

 **Everyone I didn't respond to, because I didn't want the response part to be half of the word count: Sorry I didn't respond directly. If any of you have questions, I'd be able to give a more complete and fleshed-out response via PM. I appreciate every review I get, and I _do_ read all of them and take any criticism into consideration (so long as it has more substance than "this is shit, lol").**


	18. Chapter 18: Behind the Scenes

**Chapter 18: Behind the Scenes**

"Who would've thought…" Garrus managed, walking out of the rear Hangar door of the _Normandy_. The system's star shone brightly down on Rannoch's surface, illuminating the small city that had been set up as the planet's first Quarian settlement in hundreds of years. The Empire had provided quite a bit of materials for the construction efforts, even providing for the defense of Rannoch with the 12th Light Fleet, comprised mostly of Destroyers and Frigates. Quarians and Geth alike roamed the area around the small spaceport, working tirelessly to finish the new city.

"Nobody." Tali answered, taking in the warm air of Rannoch through her suit's filters. "Nobody in the Galaxy thought this would ever be possible… but here we are."

"And there's Humans here?" Garrus asked, seeing a few Humans walking around the spaceport, clad in what appeared to be civilian clothes.

"Volunteers." Tali answered. "They're here to help get the planet back on its feet."

"Let's just get this Geth." Wrex sighed. " _You_ still have your end of the bargain to fulfill, Shepard."

"Illium's our next stop, Wrex." Shepard responded. It had taken more than a few times to get Wrex to understand that it wasn't _her_ decision to go to Rannoch first.

XXXXX

Stratton smiled as he stepped out of the elevator, watching all of the Marines, Imperial Guardsmen, and Naval Officers snap into a salute before him. "Chancellor on deck!" One of the Guard Commanders shouted, prompting the shift in attention from the viewport to him.

Stratton returned the salute, allowing everyone to stand back at rest. The reinforced viewport of Phoenix Station looked out to the endless abyss of space. The only visible object beyond the glass was a small glittering light: Voyager.

Councilor Tevos, standing just a few feet behind Stratton, looked out at the hundreds of assembled soldiers, officers, politicians, and media crew with a sense of wonder. She had been told by Stratton that the entire ceremony today would be broadcast to every corner of Human Space. At her request, he had even allowed it to be sent to Council Space with the proper censoring and filtering if anything classified was discussed, of course. As the Chancellor stepped up to a small podium, she remained behind with the Intelligence Agents that had been assigned as her guard for her five-day stay on the Human Homeworld.

The entire crowd all fell into a still silence as the Chancellor stepped up to the podium. Dozens of small camera drones floated before him, slightly obscuring his view of the Voyager itself for a moment before they settled into a pattern. With a small sigh, he collected himself before he began. His voice reached billions of ears… and he could only hope that all who listened could appreciate the wonder of this moment.

"We were hunters and foragers… the frontier was everywhere." Stratton began, his eyes scanning the room as he spoke. "We were bounded only by the Earth, the Oceans, and the Sky. The open road still softly calls. Our beautiful, cradle of a world is the madhouse of those hundred, thousand, millions of worlds."

"We who, at the time, could not put our own planetary home in order between all of the rivalries and hatreds, the chaos and the war… even then, mankind chose to venture out into space. Carl Sagan once said that when we were finally ready to settle even the closest planetary system to our own, we would have changed."

"It was not the simple passage of generations that changed us, but it was necessity. He was correct that it was not Humanity as he knew it that settled Alpha Centauri, but rather a species very like it: us. The Humanity of the thirty-first century. We carry more of the strengths of our ancestors: The far-sight, prudence, confidence, and capabilities."

"For all of mankind's failings, we have proven ourselves time and time again to be an adaptable species. We have proven that despite our limitations and fallibilities, that we Humans are capable of greatness. It was the brave souls that sent the Voyager on its way who longed to see how far our nomadic species would have wandered by this time. We… their remote descendants, safely arrayed on dozens of worlds in the Sol System and beyond, are unified by our common heritage, our laggard for our home planet, and by the knowledge that the only Humans in the universe come from Earth."

"Young children on Humanity's various colonies today gaze up in strain to find the Pale Blue Dot in their skies. They marvel at how vulnerable the repository of our potential once was. How perilous our infancy. How humble our beginnings. How many rivers, valleys, oceans, and mountains we had to cross before we found our way."

"It's easy to imagine schemes of historical causality. There were many possible historical paths. Our ancestors walked from the plains of East Africa, hunting with stone spears. They walked the Moon a decade after walking among the stars. It is beyond our powers to predict the future. It was certainly beyond the powers of those who saw life as they knew it come to an end over a millennium ago."

As Tevos listened, she could practically feel a few hundred eyes turn to gaze at her, reminders of the animosity that the Humans held towards the rest of the Galaxy.

"Catastrophic events have a way of… sneaking up on us. Of catching us unaware." Stratton continued, drawing those eyes back to him. "Your own life, or your tribe's… maybe even your entire species' might be owed to a restless few drawn by a craving they can hardly articulate or understand to undiscovered lands and new worlds. Each victory is only a prelude to another, and no boundaries can be set to our rational hope."

"Our… particular causality scheme brought our species to the edge of the abyss. Perilously, we teetered. Some believed it to be the end. Those restless few, those brave souls… they knew it was only the beginning. All of our modest, rudimentary, and in many ways heroic series of explorations that took place before we arrived on the edge of that abyss were proven to be those victories that served as the prelude to ours today."

"Mankind no longer teeters on that abyss, no longer do we fear the unknown, wallow in the pity brought on by the destruction of our home. Today, in a wonderful reciprocity, we send that same hopeful message out to the stars. Today, the Voyager returns home. With it, it will carry the collective wills, hopes, and dreams of a species. Regardless of the events that have shaped the Human species, all of our hopes and aspirations for peace will remain. There could be no better proof of this than the return of the Voyager, bearing its original hopeful message."

"This will serve as a gesture of thanks to those who sent it on its way in the first place, and a gesture to any life that may stumble across it in the future that despite their humble beginnings, a home in the stars awaits them."

The gathering of people before the Chancellor broke out into an applause as he finished his address. All eyes turned to the viewport as the ancient Voyager probe was turned on its proper heading, and then sent on its way by those old rockets that carried it all those centuries ago, internally modified to use modern fuels.

"Per Aspera ad Astra." Stratton added. "Through Adversity, to the Stars."

XXXXX

"Operative, we have a positive ID on target." Voight-Kampff's voice rang in Lucassen's ear. "Maelon: protégé of Professor Mordin Solus. Mission orders stand."

"Copy that…" Lucassen affirmed, dropping down from the edge of the building he was using for overwatch. His synthetic joints locked up as he hit the ground, dampening his fall. He removed the smart-link scope from the rails of his battle rifle, flipping up the iron sights as he moved towards the hole in the outer wall. With a quick command from his neural interface, the metal plates of his helmet shifted up from his collar, encasing his head. The optical systems engaged, bringing his HUD online.

As he stepped into the dark interior of the Clan Weryloc camp, he activated his low-light vision and brought the rifle to his shoulders.

Descending a small flight of stairs, he heard a faint conversation from behind a locked door. It seemed to be a medical procedure, with one voice carrying a notably higher pitch than the others. With practiced precision, Lucassen reached into his combat harness and produced a large roll of polymer material. Unfolding the exothermic charge, he placed it against the thin metal surface of the door, the charge locking onto the door with a soft click. Satisfied with the charge's placement, he produced a small half-spherical EMP charge from his rig, taking cover behind the metal guardrail of the staircase.

With a quick signal from his Neural Lance, the exothermic charge began hissing and popping as the thermite melted away at the aging metal surface. After five seconds the plastic explosives locked behind a layer of polymer detonated, sending superheated metal shrapnel into the other room as it blasted the door open. The second the door popped, Lucassen tossed the EMP charge through the door. With a soft beep, the EMP crackled through the air. Any electronics in the room were shut down, including personal shields and Council-grade weapons.

The Operative stood, storming through the still-smoldering hole in the door. On the other side, he was greeted by the sight of three Krogan attempting to fire their overloaded shotguns at him, and a Salarian frantically scrambling for cover behind a hospital bed. Time seemed to slow for Lucassen as his rifle's reticle darted between the three Krogan, a burst of three rounds spearing through their armored heads. Before the first corpse had even struck the ground, a single slug embedded itself in Maelon's thigh, sending him to the ground in a heap.

As the Salarian cried out in pain, Lucassen stepped over the now-dead Krogan and around the hospital bed, seeing Maelon attempting to apply pressure to the wound in his leg. An armored boot rolled Maelon onto his back, and he found himself looking down the barrel of a distinctly Human weapon. "Your research data."

Maelon attempted to sputter out an insult, but his eyes kept darting over to another locked room on the other end of a long hallway. Lucassen glanced over to the room, allowing himself a short nod. "The Empire appreciates your cooperation." He brought his weapon to his shoulder, putting Maelon out of his misery.

Lucassen sighed as he replaced the magazine of his rifle, glancing over to the occupant of the hospital bed that Maelon had obviously been standing over. It was a female Krogan, lying awake and in shock. Her lower abdomen had been split open by a surgical tool, revealing her reproductive organs. Just as expected, Maelon was attempting to cure the Genophage on an individual level. No anesthetic, no painkillers, no IV line… it was no wonder he was failing.

Lucassen sighed again as he produced his X-03 Plasma Weapon from his thigh, the bright lance of energy spearing through the Krogan female's head. That was the least he could do, end her suffering and all that.

He reattached the plasma weapon to his thigh and began making his way down the hall, seeing the red "LOCKED" hologram over the center of the door. "Voight-Kampff, if you'd be so kind…" He said, placing his palm against the holographic interface.

"Of course, Operative." Voight-Kampff responded. In a few moments' time, the hologram flickered and shifted over to green. With another tap, the door slid open. Inside was a large collection of computer terminals, data flooding across the screens. Genetic information, medical jargon, everything that the Director had briefed him on.

Lucassen reached into his rig again, producing a storage drive and slotting it into the mainframe terminal. In a few seconds, the entire collection of data stored on Maelon's drives had been copied over to his drive. With the confirmation ping sounding out, Lucassen removed the drive and slid it back into the armored casing on his carrier rig. "Sending the mission complete burst now, Operative." Voight-Kampff informed him. After a moment, the voice returned. "Orders from the Director… set the charges."

"Understood." Lucassen nodded, reaching around to the carry-all pack slung over his shoulders.

XXXXX

"Alright, Wrex…" Shepard sighed, stepping back aboard the _Normandy_ with their new Geth crewmember. "Now that we have Legion, we'll be heading for Illium."

"About time…" Wrex huffed, making his way back towards the little nook he had claimed as his own in the hangar bay.

"Shepard-Commander…" Legion began, artificial neck craning over to look to her. "Where should this unit remain during transit?"

"We have space here in the Hangar, take your pick." Shepard shrugged, looking to a few of the Marines that were sitting around their little makeshift table. "Marines, find a spot for our Geth here."

"Aye, ma'am." Vega nodded, standing upright and heading for Legion.

Shepard pressed a hand to her ear, keying into the bridge's PA system. "Joker, get us in orbit and on a vector for Illium."

"Copy that, Commander."

XXXXX

"I thought you said you'd be sending an Admiral, Chancellor." Tevos commented from her seat aboard the UHESS _Geneva_ , a "small" envoy cruiser. Of course, a ship carrying the Chancellor was not alone. It was joined by a fleet of six Atlas-Class Cruisers, two Ares-Class Cruisers, eight Wolf-Class Destroyers, ten Wyvern-class Frigates, and a Petrovsky-Class Carrier. It had taken some convincing, but Tevos had managed to get clearance for the Imperial Escort Fleet to pass into Asari space.

"The plan's… changed, somewhat." Stratton answered, crossing his legs as he leaned back against the couch. "My schedule's been cleared up somewhat, so I can spare the time. Something this important should be attended to personally."

"Well, it should help lend credibility to your proposal… as long as the Matriarchs don't decide to turn it down." Tevos answered.

"Well, I'd love to see them turn down my offer." Stratton smirked. "You Asari seem quite fond of foreign cultures."

Tevos couldn't help but smile at that. It was true, the Asari had taken quite an interest in Human culture. The way she saw it, they were fascinated by what seemed unattainable to them. Try as the Humans might to remain isolated, their merchant vessels had brought their culture with them to the Citadel; and it was slowly but surely starting to spread across the galaxy. Human art, music, and vids were now a valuable commodity in Asari space especially. A Human painter's work had even sold on Thessia for several million Credits, due in no small part to its rarity. "Not exactly the same thing as cooperative training, but I suppose it works. Who will be directing this if it goes through?"

"Admiral Hackett will be overseeing the exercises." Stratton explained. "I'll allow him to hand-pick the Marines and Army personnel that will be training alongside your Commandos."

"Might cause a bit of tension with the rest of the Council when they learn you've allowed us to train with your men, Chancellor." Tevos smirked.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Salarians and Turians are unwilling to work with us." Stratton dismissed with a wave. "They're _quite_ lucky I decided to hold the more… hawkish Senators back when we uncovered that little STG virus in a Haken Corp shipping vessel. If Chancellor Volker were still in office, Sur'Kesh would look a lot like Earth used to right about now."

"Why _did_ you decide to look the other way?" Tevos asked.

"I meant what I said, Tevos." Stratton answered. "I don't want war, and I'm pushing for Humanity to come out of its shell. Undoing a thousand years of hatred isn't easy, but I have hope. Hell, I could've twisted the narrative of Eden Prime using Saren's corpse… but I didn't."

"And you could've vaporized the Citadel when _Imperator_ arrived, but you didn't." Tevos smiled. "You're quite the enigma."

"Well… we have four hours until we arrive over Thessia." Stratton shrugged. "Go ahead… see if you can crack this enigma."

"Meaning?" Tevos asked, confused.

"Sorry, should cut back on the idioms." Stratton chuckled. "If you have any questions, ask away."

"Alright…" Tevos nodded. Truthfully, she had _absolutely_ no idea why Stratton was humoring her like this. She wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to learn more about the man who had singlehandedly shaken the galaxy to its core. "Humans tend to have three names… what's yours?"

"Haddock Grayson Stratton." He answered.

"Where are you from?" Tevos asked.

"Arcadia, a suburb outside Imperium on Earth." Stratton answered. "Born on August 13, 2971."

"Do you have any family still on Earth?" Tevos asked.

"I do…" Stratton nodded. "My two brothers are in local government on Earth. One is the Governor of the North Americas, the other is on the Senate Military Committee. My mother and father both… passed when I was a teenager. I also have a daughter."

"You have a daughter?" Tevos asked, surprised.

"Not in the… conventional sense." Stratton chuckled. "She's a synthetic. Surprisingly, it's a bit difficult to go about it the normal way when you're Chancellor." He smirked. "Her name's Eden. She's a student at a private Imperial Academy on Earth, on her way to earning a degree."

"Huh…" Tevos hummed. "I can't even imagine that, having a synthetic as a child, I mean."

"It's not too different from having a 'normal' child, I suppose." Stratton shrugged. "Synthetics still grow and age up until they reach a certain point in their maturity. We've attempted to create fully-matured synths, but they miss a few crucial stages in development. Most of our attempts ended with the synthetics falling into insanity, so we did away with that aspect of the research."

"How in the world does a machine mature?" Tevos asked. The Human synthetics technology was so beyond anything the Council had ever seen, but _this_. She wasn't even sure if they fell into the traditional definition of synthetic anymore.

"Synthetics are a combination of cybernetics and biological parts." Stratton explained. "Their bodies mature in an identical way to biological Humans. The only real difference is… well, the brain. The synthetic brain is the only fully artificial part of a Synth's body. Everything else is grown from synthesized DNA."

"Why not just grow the brains too?" Tevos asked, now even more confused.

"Synths don't exactly have a… definite lifespan." Stratton answered. "The other cybernetics that make up their central nervous system have the effect of slowing down cellular degradation. The Human brain can only contain so much information before you start running into problems. The artificial brain has a… boosted capacity, among other things, to put it in simple terms."

Tevos very quickly found herself lost in the conversation. In the short time she had to talk with Stratton openly, she had learned so much about Human society. Now it all made a bit more sense. She knew why it was easy for them to live alongside their synthetics, why their architecture was so… practical, and above all else: she learned about the almost terrifyingly enigmatic Chancellor of the Empire. Now that she had a better idea of him, it confirmed her suspicions. He wasn't so different than the people she was used to dealing with. She didn't understand the saying "only Human" until now. Stratton, and all of his kind, were distinctly "Human".

They as a species weren't inherently anything. The Turians were inherently disciplined. The Salarians were inherently pragmatic and scientific, and the Asari were inherently complacent. The Humans, however, could be anything. They weren't short-lived or long-lived like the Salarians or Asari. They weren't forced into military service like the Turians. They were just… there. Living as they pleased, doing what they pleased, and making whatever impact they could with the time they had.

And they had made one hell of an impact.

 **A/N:**

 **See? I'm not dead.**


	19. Chapter 19: The Ascension

**Chapter 19: The Ascension**

Tevos watched as the dozens of Imperial heavy transport dropships set down in the field before her. She still, quite frankly, couldn't believe that the Matriarchs had accepted the Chancellor's offer. Admiral Hackett would be on Thessia in two days to oversee the joint exercises, and the Chancellor would be staying until he arrived. It had taken some time, but the Chancellor had mustered a group of Marines who were awaiting deployment after a return-trip to Earth. A full company of the best commandos the Matriarchs could muster were awaiting the UHE Marines as they gathered up their equipment from the cargo bay of their respective dropships.

The small facility in the lesser-developed region of Thessia had been converted into a large training ground almost overnight. Even from the edge of the training grounds, Tevos could see that some of the Commandos were visibly uncomfortable at the sight of the Marines. The hulking masses of sleek, black armor began making their way over towards the carefully assembled Asari Commandos. Tevos watched as the imposing black helmets of the Marines folded back, revealing their faces behind the glowing red optics.

One of the Marines with two silver bars next to his nameplate, denoting him as a Captain, stepped forward. He scanned the Commandos with a clinical eye, hands clasped behind his back. Tevos couldn't quite make out the words, but she could tell that he was addressing the Commandos. Judging by his expression, the Captain was not impressed. "They look tense…" Stratton nodded to the Commandos, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Some of them are survivors from the Second Contact War." Tevos explained. "They've only ever seen your Marines from behind a gun."

Stratton gave a hum of acknowledgement as he watched the Captain continue to address the Asari before him. All of his Marines stood at rigid attention behind him, their rifles cradled in their arms. He reached over to a datapad that was resting on the table before him, keying into the Captain's comms. "Captain Richards, activate your external comms systems. I'm interested to hear what's going on."

Tevos watched the Marine, without any words of acknowledgement, reach up to the armored collar of his exoskeletal armor and continue his address. Tevos could hear the Marine's words from the datapad as he addressed the Commandos, and it seemed to be a pep-talk of sorts. "Unlike the Birds and the Lizards, you were obviously smart enough to listen to the Chancellor!" Richards' voice was commanding, carrying an authoritative weight with it. "There's a war coming… and it's pretty damn clear that the Council and the Empire have different ideas on war. This enemy we'll be facing doesn't give a damn about winning hearts and minds. They don't care about civilian casualties; hell, they don't even know what a civilian is!"

"When they come, and believe me… they're coming, you need to be ready to lay _waste_ to the enemy!" Richards shouted. "March through the rivers of blood that run under your feet! When more come to take their place, put… them… _down_!"

"Truth be told, I don't think any of you are ready for a _real_ war." Richards scanned over the Asari before him. "You may have a reputation in the rest of the galaxy, but that reputation don't mean shit to me! Until you can prove to me that you don't hide behind your biotics, my men will teach you how a _real_ soldier fights! You might be wondering what makes me think we can mold you into killing machines… For over eight hundred years, the Corps has done two things for our great Empire: we make Marines, and we win battles! _You_ didn't win a single engagement against us. If your fancy Biotics can't stop Marines, they sure as shit can't stop the Reapers… Divide yourselves into platoons, I want you all ready for live-fire exercises in five!"

XXXXX

Shepard sighed, leaning against the wall of a small bar in Illium's upper districts. Wrex had gone off to find the rogue Shadow Broker agent of his. Thane had gone off to shadow Wrex, ensuring that he didn't draw _too_ much attention. Vega and the other Marine Raiders had gone off to re-stock the _Normandy_ 's food stocks, the standard Marine garrison had gone off to spend their shore leave as Marines tended to, and the _Normandy_ was running on a skeleton crew, monitoring comms chatter. That left Shepard's rag-tag band to wait around the upper levels of Illium for Wrex to flush out his mark, then they'd finally be free to get on with their enduring mission.

Her group stuck out like a sore thumb, occupying the corner booth of this small bar and conversing among themselves. The Humans in the group caught a few sideways glances from other patrons, who tended to give them a wide berth.

Shepard glanced down to her Datatool, seeing a mission complete ping from Thane. Right on cue, a veritable swarm of Illium Police Skycars blazed past the bar with their lights on. She shook her head, knowing that Wrex had probably taken down a building to kill Vasir.

As she glanced back over to her small team, she saw Garrus to be in a rather animated discussion with Miranda and Tali. He certainly wasn't kidding… he was one _bad_ Turian. "There's no way…" Garrus shook his head, mandibles clamping down to accent his serious tone.

"She's not kidding, Garrus." Tali piped up. "Human synthetics are _incredible_."

"That's some crap, there's no way they can make synthetics that can _reproduce_!" Garrus rebutted.

"Sorry our tech's too far out of reach for knuckle-draggers like you, Garrus." Ashley smirked, leaning forward. "See what happens when you actually _advance_ as a species and don't completely ignore entire fields of technology for no reason?"

"But how would that even… work?" Garrus asked.

"I'm not having the birds and the bees talk with an alien, Garrus." Miranda shook her head, a small smile betraying her.

"What?" Garrus asked. "What do birds and 'bees' have to do with reproduction?"

"It's a say-" Miranda began, realizing the futility. "Ugh… never mind."

Shepard eventually made her way back to the booth, joining in on the conversation for a bit. After a few minutes, she saw Thane and Wrex make their way in, thankfully not in handcuffs. A third had joined them, apparently. An Asari with a very… questionable choice in attire walked alongside them, wearing a jumpsuit that would generally be associated with the Asari Justicars. "Commander…" Thane began, offering a nod. "I made contact with Samara, she has agreed to join our cause."

"Excellent." Shepard nodded. "Good to finally meet your employer, Thane."

"Vasir's gone." Wrex grunted. "I'll hold up my end of the bargain, Shepard…"

"Good." Shepard nodded again, looking down to her Datatool. She sent a quick burst back to Earth through the _Normandy_ 's QEC, receiving a response almost instantly. "Looks like we're hitting the Collectors through the Omega-4 Relay."

"So soon?" Garrus asked. "I thought we'd at least _find_ their homeworld first."

"Naval Recon hasn't been sitting around doing nothing, Garrus." Shepard explained, closing down the message. "Looks like we're stopping by Earth to link up with the Strike Fleet we'll be hitting the Collectors with." She opened up a secondary message sent from none other than the current director of the N7 Project: Alec Ryder. Her eyes widened when she saw the message. She quietly forwarded it to Miranda, Ashley, and Kaidan, who all had a similar reaction when they saw ' _Ascension_ ' pop up on their Datatools. "Looks like we're getting some upgrades, too." She stood up, powering down her Datatool. "C'mon, no sense in keeping the fleet waiting."

XXXXX

"Bringing us back to sub-light." Joker's voice called out over the humming of the Bridge. All of Shepard's rag-tag group of operatives were standing on the Bridge, watching the black void of space through the viewport. When she had told them that they'd be heading for Earth first, she didn't imagine the entire alien crew of the _Normandy_ would be crowding the CIC, waiting to get a glimpse of the Human homeworld. As the ship's Void Drive powered down, allowing the vessel to ease back into sub-light speeds, she could practically hear jaws hit the floor.

Earth's orbit was bustling with activity, both civilian and military. Massive fleets of warships were orbiting over the planet, surrounding the hundreds of orbital defense platforms. Sitting at the head of a formation of Titan-Class Dreadnoughts, of course, was _Imperator_. Garrus seemed to be the most amazed, seeing the goliath that was Humanity's war machine working to defend the core of their civilization. Seeing such a massive concentration of Human warships suddenly made it clear just how the mighty defenses of Palaven fell so quickly. If this was what the Humans could accomplish in just a few short years… what else were they capable of?

"Spirits…" Garrus muttered, seeing a formation of Atlas-Class Cruisers jump away, seeming to simply blink out of existence.

"Isn't there some Human phrase for this?" Liara asked, stunned.

" _UHE Normandy, transmit clearance code to dock at Phoenix Station._ " The voice of a systems operator from Phoenix Station came over the comms.

"Copy, Phoenix Control." Joker acknowledged. "Commander?"

Shepard stepped forward, placing her hand against a biometric scanner that would allow her to transmit the proper code. Once the scan was accepted, she spoke. "Lost in the night, wandering alone."

" _Clearance code accepted, welcome home, Normandy_." Phoenix Control acknowledged.

XXXXX

"Commodore Ryder!" Shepard and her N7 Fireteam snapped into a salute as their N7 generation's director stepped into the small atrium which connected the various laboratories aboard Phoenix Station.

"At ease, all of you." Ryder called out, causing the four N7 Operatives to stand at parade rest. "You all already know why you're here… it's time."

It was true. Shepard and her team already knew what was in store for them. The Ascension Project was Humanity's greatest ambition, and its most closely-guarded secret. Even the Shadow Broker couldn't leak this project, as knowledge of it was restricted to the Chancellor himself, Imperial High Command, and the N7 Program. Genetic engineering and biotechnology could only take mankind so far… this was the next stage in Human evolution; designed not by nature, but by Human hands and Human minds. Knowing what she did about the recent developments in the Ascension Project, Shepard couldn't help but find it poetic that an alien race whose home had been destroyed by nature would hold the key to breaking free of that nature. "Aye, sir." Shepard nodded.

"Alright… follow me." Ryder gave a knowing smirk as he gestured for the N7 Operatives to follow behind him. As he walked towards a bulkhead on the far side of the room, he started running through the specifics. "The procedure will take less than an hour." Ryder shot a glance over his shoulder. "It might take you some time to… acclimate, but it's certainly better than implant rejection."

Shepard shuddered at the thought. She knew the risks of implant rejection when she first accepted the offer to join the esteemed ranks of the N7. Having much of your body's biological and neurological functions enhanced or downright replaced by cybernetics or nanotechnology took its toll. N7 Operatives tended to have a much shorter lifespan compared to that of an average Human, assuming they weren't killed in action.

"The test run has proven to be an… incredible success." Ryder continued, stepping into what appeared to be a medical facility of sorts. Next to each of the four surgical gurneys was a large pod, which was generally used to contain a Synthetic that was still undergoing construction. Each of the pods was labeled with a name from the N7 Fireteam that followed behind Ryder. Ryder stopped near the center of the room, looking to the three-dozen technicians that were moving about the medical bay and preparing. "Go ahead… take a look at the new you." He said with a smirk.

Shepard was the first to approach the pod that was assigned to her. As she drew near, what she saw was truly astounding. _She_ was inside that pod, the body contained within completely barren of the scars she had accumulated over her years in the N7 program. There were no surgical marks, no scarred-over wounds, no imperfections in the skin. She could see that the body within was undergoing some sort of final diagnostics check. The faint violet hue of biotic amplifiers thrummed beneath the synthetic skin. After a moment, the diagnostics check completed, and the pod settled back into its normal bright lighting. It all carried a sort of uncanny valley feeling with it, but Shepard shoved those feelings down. _This_ was the Empire had been working towards for almost two centuries now.

With this, disease meant nothing, harsh planetary environments were no longer a concern for colonists, and the Human species would be able to survive and thrive under even the most dangerous conditions. As Shepard looked down at herself, contained in that pod, she saw the rebirth of the entire Human species.

"Whenever you're ready…" Ryder began, drawing the attention of the four N7 Operatives back to him. "We'll plug you in and get started."

XXXXX

Fleet Admiral Petrovsky watched as the distant glimmer of the lone star drifting through space slowly grew dimmer and dimmer. The entirety of this fleet had been dedicated to protecting the Navy's most ambitious undertaking, and it would seem that the first field test of _Dying Star_ had been completed. He watched for a few more moments as the distant star eventually faded and faded until the light it once provided to the universe disappeared entirely.

Now, the once-bright Red Giant star would serve a new purpose. It would be the first of its kind consumed for Humanity's war machine. The heavy elements cooked in its core would be the materials that would see the cycle broken.

 **A/N:**

 **I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK**

 **Sorry for the long hiatus. I had to make some… careful considerations with this chapter.**

 **Review time!**

 **CReaper210- It was only right to send the Voyager home.**

 **Werewolf36- Like I've said, Humanity is definitely OP compared to the Council. Unlike them, Human tech didn't stagnate for thousands of years. As for the Reapers getting some upgrades… let's just say the easy destruction of Sovereign didn't go unnoticed.**

 **Me making their military small was something of a logic-based decision. The entire mentality is that Humanity spent hundreds of years trying to hide. It wouldn't have done them much good to start expanding to garden worlds in every direction. They had to carefully consider the placement of their colonies in order to stay hidden, which led to them essentially building up instead of out. Unlike the Council, Humanity's colonies are generally high in population, even young ones.**

 **I'll be bringing Javik back soon, too.**

 **Phallus of Malice (Fan-fucking-tastic name)- Does this qualify as shitting out a chapter?**

 **BClassDemon- I think they asked in Mass Effect Canon. If I'm remembering properly, he didn't know, because the Crucible was never finished.**

 **Erik- In that context (which I'm assuming is the orbital battle of Palaven) it was meant to be in reference to a single, independent squadron being wiped out. Probably could've worded that better.**

 **Andy201- Thanks, my dude. I'll fully concede that Roses was a bit of a shit show when I first started it. I did recently re-write it, but I'm not sure how much it helped. I** ** _did_** **start that one when I was still in college, after all.**

 **Benthatguy- I'm pretty fuckin' trash at writing any sort of sexual encounters (see the aforementioned Roses Born of Dust that I wrote for evidence), so if I ever do, it'll probably be implied like it is here. (And yes, I am dodging the actual nature of the review. You'll see what'll happen).**

 **Frost5- No need to pester, I've got a new update right here (even if it did take a long-ass time).**

 **Guest- My bad on the latin. Even with the real translation, it still gets the meaning across, I suppose. Also, thank you for your service, my dude.**

 **Everyone else, because it gets boring for me to say "thanks for the compliment, man"- Thanks, everyone. And a special thanks to you guys for sticking by me on my shit update schedule.**


	20. Chapter 20: Welcome to the Machine

**Chapter 20: Welcome to the Machine**

Shepard grunted as she fell to the cold metal floor, the world around her feeling vague and fuzzy for a moment as her eyes adjusted to this new range of vision. Her new form, the synthetic body she now inhabited, simply _felt_ powerful… far beyond anything she had imagined. She gave an experimental flex of her fingers, watching the fine movements come naturally. Just like the mechanical augmentation that was commonplace in the Empire, she had full tactile sensation. As she watched her hand open and close, she saw a faint biotic aura surround her hand.

When the biotics flared up, so did a new readout on her HUD. She was stunned, seeing the sheer amount of biotic capability that was granted to this synthetic body. As she looked around, she spotted the rest of her team slowly pulling themselves to their feet, testing their range of motion in these new bodies. When her vision shifted over to the pod she had stepped into at the start of the procedure, she was transfixed. Her old body was cryogenically preserved in the pod, almost looking to be peacefully sleeping. It still had yet to set in fully, but the feeling of existential dread knowing that her body was slowly withering from the sheer volume of augmentation she received was fading. Based on Ryder's explanation… death was a thing of the past.

Ashley was the first to look over to her. She looked just like Shepard remembered her, with one notable exception: her eyes. They seemed to glow, almost like hundreds of tiny LEDs were placed behind her irises. Everyone on her team shared that same quirk now.

It took a few minutes of acclimating, but everyone eventually donned their uniforms. When a message flashed across their HUDs, indicating that they'd be undertaking a combat trial in their new bodies, Shepard couldn't help but smirk. She couldn't wait to see what two centuries of research could do.

XXXXX

Stratton grunted as he threw himself to the floor, a high-velocity slug whizzing through the air and puncturing the glass window of his luxury condominium the UHE Embassy had procured on the Citadel's Silversun Strip. The round sailed directly through a Cerberus Agent's arm, sending him to the ground in pain. Thankfully, the condo's security measures kicked in and deployed bullet-resistant shutters over the wall-spanning windows.

Accenting the rather precarious position Stratton now found himself in, the encryption on the door's locking mechanism was overridden from outside, and the pneumatics hissed open. "Grenade!" Agent Brooks shouted out, yanking Stratton into cover behind the kitchen counter. The frag grenade went off a moment later, throwing debris and metal shrapnel in all directions.

The assailants, all six of them Turian, attempted to file into the room, but were met by a hail of gunfire from the PDWs carried by the Cerberus Agents. One was cut down, and the others scattered for cover. Stratton reached into his coat, producing the M-3 Plasma Pistol he carried with him.

The firefight was short, but bloody. Brooks took a round to the shoulder, and a grazing shot found its mark on Stratton's jaw. He pushed the pain back and returned fire, searing a neat hole through a Turian's carapace and boiling the grey matter in his head. Right when Stratton ducked back behind cover to replace the spent power cell of his handgun, he heard the distinct warbling sirens of C-SEC Skycars, and the synthesized shouting of Imperial Guardsmen as they approached the condo.

Eight Imperial Guardsmen in full battle dress stormed through the door, stepping over their two fallen comrades that were once guarding the Chancellor's door, and opened fire. When the gunfire finally died down, Stratton pulled himself to his feet and looked around. Two of his personal Cerberus guards were now dead, along with three Imperial Guardsmen. The six Turian attackers were scattered around the living room, positively riddled with bullets.

"Motherfuckers…" Stratton muttered, wiping the blood off his neck with his sleeve. He turned to the Guardsmen that were putting confirmation rounds through the Turians on the floor. "Keep C-SEC the fuck away from that fucking door!"

"Understood." The Guard Captain nodded, moving to stand vigil down the hall.

"Fuckin' come to the Citadel to re-open the Embassy, and these fuckers try to knock me off…" Stratton muttered. "I want these Birds ID'd ten minutes ago!"

"Understood, sir." Brooks nodded.

"And notify Ryder that I want my new goddamn body _tonight_!" Stratton barked, sliding the handgun back into his coat.

XXXXX

"Councilor Tevos, Chancellor Stratton is, erm… _demanding_ a meeting." Tevos looked up from her Omni-Tool. One of the aides had just barged into the conference room, looking somewhat frazzled.

"What, is there some problem with the Embassy?" Mesu asked, confused.

"Uhm… not quite." The aide began, awkwardly fidgeting with the sleeve of her dress. "There was an attempt on his life one hour ago, on the Silversun Strip."

Tevos couldn't even find the words to describe the feeling of sheer terror that washed over her. Just before she could pick her jaw up off the floor, she could hear a familiar voice shouting on the other side of the door. "No, goddamnit! I'm getting some fucking answers _now_!"

"Uhh… let him in." Tevos managed.

As the Asari aide stepped over to the door and pressed a hand to the holographic interface, the door hissed open and revealed the enraged Human Chancellor powering down his Datatool and shooting a fiery glare to Sparatus. He was flanked on both sides by a squad of Imperial Guardsmen, each of them wearing their ornate exoskeletons. When a C-SEC officer attempted to stop the Guardsmen from following the Chancellor into the conference room, a Guardsman with a white shoulder-cape raised his rifle to the C-SEC officer. "Officer, his guards may enter!" Tevos called out, hoping to defuse the situation. The C-SEC officer reluctantly stepped back, and the Guardsman lowered his rifle, falling back into step with the Chancellor.

As Stratton stormed into the conference room, the door hissing shut behind him, he glared at Sparatus for what felt like an eternity. Tevos could see that the grey fabric of his suit was stained crimson in blood, and a nasty-looking wound was sat on his jawline, seemingly sealed by a medical coagulant. "You have a _lot_ to answer for if you want to leave this room peacefully, Sparatus." Stratton growled, reaching down to his Datatool and tapping the display. "I have two wounded Cerberus Agents and two dead Imperial Guardsmen… all at the hands of Turian _Spectres_!"

"What?!" Sparatus shouted in surprise.

"Look for yourself." Stratton removed the Datatool from his wrist, sliding it across the table to Sparatus. The Turian Councilor looked down at the device's screen, seeing six Turians lying on the floor of a Silversun Strip condo, biometric data for all of them present as well. The Chancellor was _not_ lying… all six of them were _active_ Spectres. "You've massed fleets on the border, and now you try to _assassinate_ me?!" Stratton shouted, slamming a hand onto the table. "If it's war you want, I'll happily give you a fucking _war_!"

"Stratton, whatever you're implying, I'd advise-" Sparatus attempted, only to be cut off by the Chancellor.

"Interrupt me one more goddamn time and I'll bolt your mandible to your face, do you understand me?!" Stratton shouted, silencing the Turian Councilor. "I've had it up to here with the wishy-washy _bullshit_ of the Council! Did you, or did you not, send these Spectres to assassinate me?"

"Of course I didn't!" Sparatus declared.

"You'll pardon me if I don't take you at your word, Sparatus!" Stratton barked back. "The Spectres answer to the Council and _only_ the Council! All six of their Omni-Tools were set to self-destruct on death, all six were Turian, and all six of them were _veteran_ Spectres transferred to C-SEC Liaison duty on the Silversun Strip by _your_ office! This is either the most elaborate ruse in _history_ , or you tried to knock me off!"

"You have no proof to substantiate this!" Sparatus shouted in return. "I never gave an order like that! Why the Hell would I?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, which Council race refuses to de-militarize the border?" Stratton asked, rhetorically. "Which Council race has continued to be antagonistic towards Human traders at every turn? Which Council race threw a fucking fit when the Empire agreed to joint training exercises with the Asari Republics?"

"If I can offer a suggestion…" Tevos began, seeing that Stratton was getting terrifyingly close to walking around the table and making good on his threats. "Why not let the Empire's intelligence agencies have limited access to your systems to verify?"

"Absolutely not!" Sparatus declared.

"Of course, why would he allow that?" Stratton gritted his teeth. "He's afraid of what Cerberus will find."

"There are classified communications in those systems!" Sparatus retorted.

"I said 'limited' access, didn't I?" Tevos added.

"Let me put it to you bluntly, Sparatus…" Stratton said, leaning against the table. "It's the _only_ way you'll be seeing peace tomorrow."

Sparatus glanced over to Tevos, then back to Stratton, then down at the Datatool again. He knew _damn_ well that Stratton would make good on that threat. He let out a heavy sigh. "Very well… I'll grant your 'Cerberus' access to my office's computer systems."

"Good…" Stratton grunted, pushing himself off the table and beckoning for his Datatool. Sparatus slid the small device back to the Chancellor, who re-attached it to the mount on his wrist before activating a communicator. "Agent Brooks, you're clear to perform a full sweep of all communication and computer systems in Councilor Sparatus' office. Forward all findings to me directly."

XXXXX

"Chancellor…" Agent Brooks' holographic avatar appeared on the Council's conference table. It had only been about thirty minutes, and Stratton had notably cooled off, but there was still a feeling of tension in the air. "The scan of Councilor Sparatus' computer systems is complete. He was being truthful, he did not send the order."

"But it was still _sent_." Sparatus added. "Who did this?"

"Dalatrass Linron, through encrypted STG channels using previously-unseen methods for masking a data route." Brooks explained. Stratton could swear that he heard the cogs turning in Councilor Mesu's head.

"W-what?" Mesu managed, seeing the Guardsmen glaring him down.

Stratton sucked in a deep breath. "Thank you, Agent Brooks. Prepare this information for a public release." With a quick nod, she severed the connection from her end.

"Chancellor, I can assure you-" Mesu began, only to be cut off by Stratton raising a hand.

"The evidence implicates the Dalatrass and STG, not you." Stratton deadpanned. "However, consider it a… friendly request for you to contact the Dalatrass. As in, right now."

Mesu simply nodded, typing away at his Omni-Tool for a moment. "Chancellor, are you sure you wouldn't like to handle this… without us present?" Tevos asked, fearing more for Mesu's safety than anything.

"Don't worry, Tevos." Stratton turned to look at her. "If the Dalatrass is… cooperative, there won't be any need to escalate this _unfortunate_ situation." Stratton diverted his attention again once the Dalatrass appeared in the center of the conference table, her avatar facing Mesu.

"Councilor, what's the meaning of this?" Linron asked, Mesu's call obviously interrupting something important.

"There's been an, erm… diplomatic incident here on the Citadel that requires your attention." Mesu explained. Stratton took that as his cue to step into range of Mesu's Omni-Tool. He could see the _exact_ moment when Linron's heart stopped.

"Dalatrass, it's come to my understanding that we have some… disagreements we need to settle. I always knew STG preferred covert operations, but throwing the Turians under the bus? That's low even for a lizard."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Stratton." Linron attempted to deflect. "What are you implying?"

"Don't try me, Linron. You're going to explain to me, in simple terms, where our problem lies." Stratton snapped. "Really? You'd prefer to deal with Vice-Chancellor Muller? The same Vice-Chancellor that called for war after that little stunt STG pulled with one of our cargo freighters?"

"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about." Linron tried again. Stratton could see, she was nervous… rightfully so.

"Really? So when Cerberus goes public with a recent assassination attempt on yours truly, it'll be the first you've heard of it?" Stratton scoffed, sending the data packet Brooks had sent his way to Linron. "How about that? Ringing any bells?"

Stratton watched the Dalatrass open and closer her mouth a few times, searching for the right words. "Chancellor… I'm sure we can settle this _peaceably_."

"Oh, I have no doubt." Stratton nodded. "You _might_ have a little problem with the Turians you used as a proxy, though."

"Truth be told, Dalatrass…" Sparatus spoke up. "If the Empire decided to march on Sur'Kesh, I'd be more than happy to let them."

"And you would find no help from the Asari, Dalatrass…" Tevos added.

"So, Linron…" Stratton's predatory smile returned. "Like you said, let's settle this peaceably. Councilors, any suggestions?"

XXXXX

 _"Captain Aboard, Flight Lieutenant Moreau stands relieved_. _"_ EDI's synthesized voice came over the ship's intercom as Shepard's fireteam stepped back aboard _Normandy_. Garrus was standing beside Joker at the helm, overlooking the Earth with a bit of wide-eyed wonder.

"Spirits, Shepard. Did you get caught up in another-" Garrus clamped his mandible shut when he saw Shepard's team. They were… different. The faint marks of surgical scars, the wear and tear from countless battles, and the various imperfections each of them wore like badges of honor were all gone. Their eyes seemed to give off a faint glow, and their movements seemed more fluid and smooth. "What in hell happened to you four?"

"We'll go over all that in the briefing." Shepard deflected the question. "Get everyone together in the War Room, fleet's mobilizing in an hour." It took Garrus a moment, but he eventually nodded and went off to find the others. Satisfied that she wouldn't have to tell the same story fifteen different times, Shepard and her team all headed for the elevator behind the Galaxy map to prepare their equipment.

They all caught amazed looks from the crew, and a dull murmur overtook the CIC Deck. It was only once the four N7 Operatives were in the elevator that everyone slowly went back to their duties.

Shepard waited until her three companions got off on the Crew Deck, likely to a similar gawking collection of Naval Crewmen, then tapped the display and sent the elevator towards her cabin. She already knew what she was getting herself into here, and figured that it'd be best to get it over with.

As she stepped through the door to her cabin, she saw Sam throwing a plain t-shirt on. "A bit long for a meeting, Annalise." She said. Shepard could practically feel the snarky smile on Sam's face.

"A bit more than a meeting, Sammy." Shepard smirked, descending the short flight of stairs. When Traynor turned around, her jaw almost immediately hit the floor.

"W-What?" She managed, taking a tentative step towards Shepard. "Your eyes… your scars… your _freckles_! Did they give you new augments or something?"

"Not exactly." Shepard answered, stepping a bit closer and grabbing hold of Trayor's arms. "Gave me a whole new body."

"Wait… _what?!_ " Traynor managed, after a few moments of simply gawking. "Why?!"

"Sam…" Shepard began, taking a deep breath. "There's a lot people don't know about the N7 Project… Sure, people know we have the most extensive augmentation procedures, but those augmentations slowly kill us. We're lucky if we live twenty five years after the procedure. Now those augmentations aren't augmentations any more… they're stock. Came with the base model." Shepard smirked, comfortingly running her hands along Traynor's arms. "Basically… they put me in a synthetic body."

"Y-You're a _synth_ now?!" Traynor sputtered. "I-wuh-uhh-"

"Yep…" Shepard nodded. "Plan is to roll it out Empire-wide over the next few years… make this available to everyone. No more disease, no more aging… We've got Human-controlled evolution now."

Traynor processed everything Shepard had just said for a moment, her mouth firing off before her brain could filter it out. "Kinda makes the whole ''till death do us part' thing a moot point…"

Shepard simply looked down to Traynor with a smile on her face, seeing the blush creep onto her cheeks, then broke out into a fit of laughter. "Never change, Sam…"

XXXXX

"Captain, we're one minute out." Joker said, looking over his shoulder. "If there were ever a time to pray, it'd be now."

"What, you scared?" Wrex asked, crossing his arms as he watched the viewport.

"Jumping straight towards a Supermassive Black Hole, about to take on the inbred cousins of the Protheans on their home turf?" Joker asked, craning his head around again. "Nah, no concern here."

"Any word from the fleet?" Shepard asked, carrying her helmet in the crook of her arm. At first, she was a bit apprehensive at the idea of boarding the Collector Station. That all changed when she got put through her paces on Phoenix Station.

"Fleet's reported no issues on their end." Joker shrugged. "Shouldn't have any problems unless they got some of their cuttlefish friends for backup." Looking back down to the instruments, Joker activated the ship-wide intercom. "General Quarters, all hands to stations! Leaving FTL in five… four…"

XXXXX

The space around the galactic core was littered with the wrecks of ancient starships, all lazily drifting around the accretion disk of the supermassive black hole. The Collector station sat eerily close to the whirlwind, surrounded by a half-dozen Collector ships. The Collector fleet quickly changed its heading as three-dozen vessels slammed back into real-space, shields charged and weapons primed. The goliath _Retribution_ sat at the spearhead of the fleet, and the general order to fire at will was given.

 **A/N:**

 **Patience is a virtue. I'll cut right to the reviews.**

 **Lucifer 9001- Update is now, my friend. Think of Dying Star like the Star Forge from Star Wars, just notably less OP.**

 **EverfreeSparkle- It certainly cannot… just ask the Germans.**

 **AdamZeeper- As much as I love the shit out of Deus Ex: Human Revolution _and_ Mankind Divided (original Deus Ex is still one of the greatest games ever made), this was actually mostly inspired by things like Shadowrun and Blade Runner (Hence the Voight-Kampff).**

 **Omeganian- Shit… ya got me there.**

 **BrokenLifeCycle- Seriously, just the sheer fact that we decided to slap the Golden Record onto the Voyager is amazing to me. Such a hopeful message that we sent to the stars, knowing that it'll probably never be found. I always got the feeling it was more meant for a future Humanity than anything.**

 **Ilikebob- Never got _super_ deep into 40K, not too familiar with the deeper lore. I've played a few of the games (like the good Dawn of War games and Space Marine). I always liked it, never really got around to getting really into it.**

 **The-Only-Temporary-Name- We cyberpunk nao.**

 **Frost5- You're in the right universe for Dying Star's basic function. Think KOTOR and the Star Forge ;).**

 **Coduss- Yep, new body is permanent. Having your entire nervous system on constant overdrive tends to reduce lifespan.**

 **Alright, hopefully I can update more frequently, but I make no promises. Work sucks, my dudes.**


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